oregon health authority

January 12, 2012 -- The state of Oregon is looking for health care providers to adopt a primary care model designed for better health and lower costs. Across the state, more than 80 clinics already have applied to be officially recognized by the state as “patient-centered primary care homes.” Read More >>

December 22, 2011 – The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems lost an attempt to stop the implementation of a new law that will reduce their outpatient reimbursements by up to 50% starting January 1. Read More >>

November 30, 2011— When legislators approved the Psychiatric Security Review Board’s (PSRB) budget earlier this year, they attached a string -- the board needed to start thinking about ways to move patients out of the Oregon State Hospital into community treatment facilities. That string took the form of a “budget note.” Read More >>

November 21, 2011 -- Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division and its county health partners launched a new statewide campaign today to increase colorectal cancer screening among Oregonians over age 50 (over 45 for African Americans). Guided by a research finding that people are much more likely to get screened if they are encouraged by someone they know and trust, the campaign takes an innovative approach by empowering already screened men and women to serve as champions and to encourage people they know to get screened. Read More >>

November 16, 2011 --Almost 70 percent of Oregon tobacco users want to quit, and those who use the free Oregon Tobacco Quit Line have a better chance of breaking their addiction for good. New online coaching services, in addition to phone coaching, make the Quit Line more convenient and accessible than ever. Read More >>

November 10, 2011—Dr. Bruce Goldberg is in active discussions with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to see if federal funds are available to jump start the coordinated care organizations (CCOs) which will provide physical, mental health and dental services to more than 630,000 people on the Oregon Health Plan next July. Read More >>

As a special project for Medicare, Acumentra Health will assist Oregon physician practices in electronically reporting adult immunization data to Oregon’s statewide immunization registry, the ALERT Immunization Information System (IIS).   Read More >>

October 31, 2011—A report examining the outcome of programs run by the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Human Services shows there’s a lot of work to do to achieve health equity based on race and ethnicity. Read More >>

October 24, 2011—The Public Employees’ Benefit Board postponed voting to spend $165,000 for the Wellness@Work program when it last week, citing the desire to see more concrete outcomes. That worksite wellness program is now used by state agencies under the auspices of the Oregon Public Health Division. Read More >>

September 26, 2011—The Healthy Kids program, which has cut the number of uninsured Oregon children in half since it began in 2009, drew numerous questions from Republican legislators during a legislative hearing last week over its enrollment numbers and data submitted to the federal government for a performance bonus. Read More >>