Courtney Sherwood

By the Metrics: FamilyCare vs Health Share

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Reports and surveys show the two CCOs achieving similar statistical results, but state officials acknowledge that current metrics need improvement. More FamilyCare members report poor mental health than Health Share members.

As tens of thousands of FamilyCare members receive letters about the end of their coordinated care organization and their pending switch to Health Share, state leaders have repeatedly emphasized that both Portland-area Medicai

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Courtney Sherwood

Providence in Talks to Buy Salem’s Performance Health Technology

Founded in 1996, PH Tech offers claim payment and processing support to providers, as well as data management services and reporting for Medicare and Medicaid, including Oregon’s largest CCOs.

A Salem-based provider of data and technology services to many of Oregon’s coordinated care organizations said Wednesday that it expects to be purchased by an affiliate of Providence Health.

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Courtney Sherwood

Measure 101 Debate: More Funds for Medicaid vs. Suspicion With Process

Both sides on the statewide referendum on healthcare taxes say they support funding the Oregon Health Plan, but as they debated they revealed fundamentally different priorities.

Opponents and supporters of Measure 101, the referendum on Oregon’s expanded healthcare taxes that goes to the voters in January, argued opposing sides to two apparently different debates on Wednesday morning at the Oregon Health Forum’s deep dive intto the topic.

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Courtney Sherwood

FamilyCare Threatens to Close After Report Supports State's CCO Rates

Portland’s second-largest Medicaid provider says it cannot afford current reimbursement rates, while its larger competitor, HealthShare, said it is prepared to take on new members if necessary.

Responding to a report calling the Oregon Health Authority’s Medicaid reimbursement rates “actuarially sound,” the state’s second-largest coordinated care organization warned this week that it may cease operation by the end of the year.

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Courtney Sherwood

Donations to The Lund Report Support Nimble, Hard-Hitting Oregon Healthcare Coverage

Journalism has shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in less than a generation, and our state has been particularly battered by this trend. But our in-depth stories prove that investigative reporting can still make a difference.

In this era of “fake news,” it’s harder than ever to get in-depth insight into people, businesses companies and government groups that shape our lives. In 2000, the year I graduated from college and started my journalism career, newspapers employed 423,000 people, many in local communities.

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Courtney Sherwood

Digging Deep: St. Charles Pays Board Members, Unlike Most Hospital Nonprofits

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The Bend-based four hospital chain saw margins climb in 2016, but in 2017 it is making cuts as its financial outlook grows less secure.

As Bend-based St. Charles Health makes cuts in response to budget shortfalls, the nonprofit has continued its rare-in-Oregon practice of paying board members for the advice they offer.

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Courtney Sherwood

Kitzhaber Joins Experts in Pushing for Coordination on Addiction Epidemic

The former governor joined a drug court judge and others Wednesday morning to discuss Oregon's poor performance on recovery efforts, and how the state can do better.

Former Governor John Kitzhaber joined with proponents of a coordinated statewide look at addiction Wednesday, saying that only big thinking and new approaches will allow Oregon to rise from its spot as 49th of the 50 U.S.

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Courtney Sherwood

FamilyCare Decries 2018 CCO Rates, Continuing Years-Long Battle with Oregon

The Portland-area nonprofit says even with a 9.8 percent rate hike, it faces a $75 million deficit and could go out of business.

Coordinated care organization reimbursement rates that were announced this week included a hike in how much FamilyCare will receive in 2018 – but not enough to appease the leaders of the Portland-area CCO, who say low reimbursements are putting their nonprofit organization at risk.

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Courtney Sherwood

In Depth: Executive Pay, Performance at Oregon’s Rural Catholic Hospitals

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Two of the country’s largest hospital chains, CHI and Trinity, have only a small footprint in Oregon. But in their rural communities, they have outsized clout

Two of Oregon’s largest hospital chains are run by regionally headquartered Catholic nonprofits, Providence and PeaceHealth, which each have clout in the state to match their large footprints.

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Courtney Sherwood

OHSU President Joe Robertson to Retire, Cites MS Diagnosis

Though he intends to begin collecting PERS this fall, Robertson says he will work unpaid for the rest of the academic year, as a search for his successor is launched.

OHSU President Joe Robertson will retire at the end of the month, but plans to continue working in a slightly scaled back capacity, as he begins treatment following a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, he announced this week.

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Courtney Sherwood

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