Amy Cooper stepped into her role as interim director of We Can Do Better in September – but started working with the organization as a contractor in May.
Cooper, who holds a master of public health degree from Portland State and a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, has spent most of her career working in health information technology. She worked for OCHIN for 10 years, and more recently has contracted with Kaiser Permanente, the Coalition of Community Clinics and Project Access NOW to help implement electronic health records projects.
But even working in health IT, Cooper said, she was more interested in policy than in technology itself. “I've always had a passion for health policy, and my interest in tech was not technology for technology's sake, but in its uses as a tool that can impact policy,” Cooper said, adding that she's excited about her new role, which she sees as an opportunity to continue engaging the public on health policy issues.
For instance, at We Can Do Better's sixth annual conference next April, Cooper and the other organizers would like to include discussion sessions where attendees – hopefully members of the public as well as people involved in health policy – can brainstorm policy recommendations. Next year's conference will be called “Beyond Health Care: Community, Action, Health and Equity” and so far organizers are planning sessions on patient engagement, healthcare financing, and access issues associated with the Affordable Care Act.
“We don't want to necessarily just have a day of speakers talking at people,” Cooper said. Instead, she hopes the conference can end with an “action plan” generated by audience feedback. She's currently in the process of securing sponsors for the event and hopes for a large turnout; prior conferences have brought between 200 and 300 people, and Cooper hopes for an even higher turnout next year.
We Can Do Better is also partnering with the Oregon Medical Association on that organization's Choosing Wisely campaign, a campaign to educate providers and patients alike about overuse of certain tests and procedures – and to support provider efforts to help patients make better healthcare decisions.
The campaign encourages patients to ask five questions before any test or procedure: whether they need it, what the risks and side effects are, whether there are simpler or safer options, what happens if they do nothing and how much the procedure costs. The Oregon Medical Association has been working with providers to better educate patients about their choices, and has created a website to inform providers and the public about how to keep down costs and avoid unnecessary healthcare decisions. Earlier this year, the organization sponsored an event with the Portland City Club to educate the public about the Affordable Care Act, as well as two events – an education event and a documentary screening – with PSU and Oregon Health & Sciences University's Open School.
We Can Do Better was founded in 2006 as the Archimedes Movement, changing its name in 2011, and has advocated for healthcare reform around a core set of principles including financing, population benefit, education, choice and dignity, effectiveness and efficiency. The organization was led by Liz Baxter until she departed to take over the executive director role at the Oregon Public Health Institute, though Baxter told The Lund Report earlier this year that she would continue to consult with a the organization on occasion.
Christen can be reached at [email protected].
