PacificSource Community Solutions (Columbia Gorge) Receives $2.5 Million Payback for Earning Top State Quality Scores
Coordinated Care Organization will allocate the funds back to care providers
(HOOD RIVER, Ore.) August 15, 2016— PacificSource Community Solutions’ Columbia Gorge Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) announced that it will receive payback of more than $2.5 million dollars from Quality Pool payments that the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) withheld from all CCO’s payments during 2015. PacificSource Community Solution’s will allocate the money received from OHA back to the care providers for the Columbia Gorge CCO, as well as create funds over which the Columbia Gorge Health Council has decision-making authority. The pool of funds will be used for initiatives throughout the Columbia Gorge, strategically aimed at improving the health of the community.
PacificSource Community Solutions’ Columbia Gorge CCO was one of 16 CCOs statewide to receive the full quality payout, and it was the only CCO that met performance targets on all 17 of the quality measures. Quality measures are used by the OHA to determine how successful CCOs have been at improving care, making quality care accessible, eliminating health disparities, and curbing the rising cost of health care for the populations they serve.
Performance on clinical measures in the Columbia Gorge CCO was the highest in the state in three areas: follow-up care for people who have been hospitalized for mental health conditions, assessment for children in foster care, and rates of timely prenatal care for pregnant members.
“Simply having a forum in which health-care providers and stakeholders can gather and share what is and is not working in our region, and strategize as a group, has made a huge difference in health care delivery in our area,” said Dr. Kim Humann, Co-Chair of the Clinical Advisory Panel of the Columbia Gorge Health Council. “It has been an incredible experience to see new standards implemented, then go to the office and witness my patients' lives change in significant and positive ways as a result.”
Together, PacificSource Community Solutions and Columbia Gorge Health Council lead the PacificSource Columbia Gorge CCO, which includes nearly every health-care provider in Hood River and Wasco Counties, serving 12,800 members of Oregon Health Plan (OHP), Oregon’s Medicaid program. Medicaid currently covers one in four residents in the two counties.
“Many people have invested time and energy in establishing the Columbia Gorge Health Council and our region’s CCO,” said Karen Joplin, Hood River County Commissioner and chair of the Columbia Gorge Health Council. “Back in 2012, we were hoping to build something that would improve health and health care across our community. I’m grateful that we’re starting to see success from our work. Change this important takes time, but now we know it can be done.”
The OHA has published a 2015 Performance Report that includes all of Oregon’s CCOs. It can be found online at Oregon.gov/oha.
About the Columbia Gorge Health Council
The Columbia Gorge Health Council consists of health care, county, and other community leaders in Hood River and Wasco counties, who work together to recommend and guide solutions and improvements to the region’s health-care system. They work in partnership with PacificSource Community Solutions to guide the area’s Coordinated Care Organization as well as develop strategies and policies to address the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the region.
About PacificSource Community Solutions
As part of the PacificSource family of companies, PacificSource Community Solutions serves Medicaid members through its coordinated care organizations in Central Oregon and the Columbia Gorge. Founded in 1933, PacificSource employs 700 people, serves more than 275,000 individuals, and has 3,900 employer clients throughout the Northwest. For more information visit PacificSource.com.
Media Contact: Lee Dawson, Public Relations Manager
503-210-2554, lee.dawson@pacificsource.com