Skip to main content

Health Share awarded $3.4 million in Health System Transformation Funds

The Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Transformation Center has awarded Health Share of Oregon a $3.4 million Transformation Fund Grant Award to support the coordinated care organization’s (CCO) innovative programs and pilot projects that are working to transform health care delivery in the Portland Tri-County region.
November 18, 2013

The Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Transformation Center has awarded Health Share of Oregon a $3.4 million Transformation Fund Grant Award to support the coordinated care organization’s (CCO) innovative programs and pilot projects that are working to transform health care delivery in the Portland Tri-County region.

The grant, which covers an 18-month period through June 2015, focuses on several key priorities, including enhancing community health integration, strengthening primary care capacity, leveraging health information technology and engaging new members who join Health Share.

 

“The Health Transformation Fund grant provides us with an opportunity to launch pilot initiatives, as well as expand programs underway that are showing early promise,” said Janet L. Meyer, CEO of Health Share. “This is an important investment in our community’s health. The impacts of some of these initiatives, such as the expansion of the Healthy Homes Asthma Program, reach beyond Health Share’s members and will benefit everyone in our community.”

 

Enhancing Community Health Integration
Several collaborative projects will address environmental health factors where children and adults live, work, learn and interact as families and in the community - factors which are outside of the traditional physical and behavioral health care systems. These proposed initiatives include working with community-based organizations and public sector partners that specialize in meeting these needs. These collaborative projects can help support Health Share members overcome every day hurdles that impact their health, including poor housing, lack of transportation, low health literacy, hunger and access to support systems that prevent chronic disease. 

The Healthy Homes Asthma Program, a free program for low-income families to help them take control of their children’s asthma, will be expanded beyond Multnomah County to include both Clackamas and Washington Counties. The program, which has already been shown to significantly reduce emergency room visits and improve asthma symptoms, will benefit all members of the community, including those not enrolled in Health Share of Oregon. A nurse asthma educator and community health worker make home visits to help families with medication management, creating an asthma action plan, improve the health of their home and identify other community resources.

Focusing on urban American Indian and Alaska Native women ages 15-24 living in Multnomah County, the Future Generations Collaborative will work to increase healthy pregnancy planning and reduce substance-exposed pregnancies. This “shovel-ready” project partners with Multnomah County Health Department Mental Health and Addictions Services and native-serving organizations, including Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) and Native American Youth Association (NAYA).

Partnering with supportive housing providers in Clackamas County, Health Share will use the Transformation Fund grant to implement the Stanford University evidence-based Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) for low income people living in affordable housing.

Strengthening Primary Care Capacity
There have been significant efforts over the past few years to strengthen primary care through the adoption of the patient centered primary care home (PCPCH) model. Under the grant, Health Share will develop an advanced primary care provider “team” model to address the proactive health management of the CCO’s high needs members, those with multiple and complex health issues. This enhanced model, which will include staff skilled to address both medical and socio-behavioral issues, will incorporate intensive care management, pharmacists, health coaching and patient navigation. Team members could include behaviorists, outreach workers, care managers and peer mentors, as well as formal relationships with medical and social services outside of the clinic.

Engaging Members
Health Share is committed to honoring new member preferences and preserving continuity of care within existing member/provider relationships. To encourage ongoing engagement with their health care providers, a New Member Outreach program will help the CCO learn a member’s preferences, provide health education and assess a member’s specific needs.

Improving Community Care Coordination through Information Sharing
The concept of a shared care plan for OHP enrollees is integral to Oregon’s transformation imperative. This initiative will gather input from the wide variety of organizations that serve Health Share’s members to identify the types of information that should be shared and the best methods to provide the information, including the implementation and integration of technology.

Leveraging Health Information Technology
Health Share’s transformation funds proposal, transformation plan, and strategic plan identify and describe various clinical delivery system initiatives aimed at achieving the Triple Aim objectives of better care, better health outcomes and lower delivery costs. A portion of the transformation fund grant will support an initial investment required to purchase and implement key technologies.

For More Information
For more information on Health Share of Oregon and an overview of the Transformation Fund projects, please visithealthshareoregon.org/health-transformation/health-system-transformation-fund-grant/.

 

About Health Share of Oregon
Serving Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, Health Share of Oregon is a unique community-wide partnership created to ensure quality, cost-effective care for Oregon Health Plan members. The largest of the state’s coordinated care organizations, Health Share provides an integrated community delivery system with the objective of achieving better care, better health and lower costs for the Medicaid population and for the region.

Health Share is a collaborative of 11 founding partners: Adventist Health, CareOregon, Central City Concern, Clackamas County, Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, Multnomah County, Oregon Health & Science University, Providence Health & Services, Tuality Health Alliance and Washington County.

 

Comments