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Yamhill County Care Organization begins serving Medicaid members Nov. 1 McMinnville

October 25, 2012 -- The state of Oregon has granted the Yamhill County Care Organization (YCCO) final certification as a Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). The new 501(C)3 non-profit organization will begin providing managed care services starting Nov. 1 for Oregon Health Plan patients in Yamhill County and adjoining parts of Marion, Clackamas and Polk counties. Oregon Health Plan members in this area should be receiving their new ID cards the last week of October.
October 25, 2012

October 25, 2012 -- The state of Oregon has granted the Yamhill County Care Organization (YCCO) final certification as a Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). The new 501(C)3 non-profit organization will begin providing managed care services starting Nov. 1 for Oregon Health Plan patients in Yamhill County and adjoining parts of Marion, Clackamas and Polk counties. Oregon Health Plan members in this area should be receiving their new ID cards the last week of October.

“We’re excited that we have the opportunity to provide a local public health option for OHP members and their families,” said Silas Halloran-Steiner, director of the Yamhill County Health and Human Services Department who is serving as board chairman of YCCO. “We’re excited to move forward and to have this being a local option with the community coming together.”

The new organization is being formed under guidelines for Coordinated Care Organizations established by the Legislature. The intent is to provide better health care to Oregon Health Plan members at the same time as rising costs are curtailed.

In addition to managing the care of members right away, the first task of the YCCO is to develop a transformation plan to present to the Oregon Health Authority by January 15, 2013. Yamhill CCO has about $1 million of the $1.6 billion in federal dollars granted to Oregon for its Medicaid transformation.

The YCCO brings together providers from the oral health delivery system, health plans, both local hospitals, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Clinic, Physicians Medical Center, Mid-Valley Behavioral Care Network, independent and employed physicians, NW Senior and Disability Services, CareOregon, non-profit providers and elected officials.

“By bringing together this broad group, we expect to identify ways we can collaborate around health and health care in Yamhill County with the objective of achieving optimum population health, improving health care and realizing the cost savings we need,” Halloran-Steiner says. “Our first priority is to address the issues of access to care that we know our OHP members have.”

The governance of Yamhill County Care Organization also includes a community advisory council (CAC), which held its first meeting Oct. 16.

The objective of the board and the community advisory council is to encourage broad community participation, and gather input from the community about how best to achieve the “triple aim” of health care improvement: improve health for the community, create a better care experience for each patient and curb costs.

“We have a diverse group of people who are choosing to serve the community through this council,” Halloran-Steiner says. “I think people are really exciting in coming together in for the community for improving access to care. I think that vision and the opportunity to make local decisions set local policy and decide how we’re going to define health and improve overall community health is what is bringing people together for this.”

The community advisory council meets again November 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Housing Authority of Yamhill County, 135 Northeast Dunn Place, McMinnville. The public is welcome to CAC meetings.

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