The Lund Report

New Virginia Garcia Clinic Fills Gap in Care for Eastern Yamhill County

The clinic has a special focus on farm workers in the bucolic agricultural region around Newberg, but will also help the Yamhill CCO meet access demands for other low-income residents with a team-based model of care.

Jun 27, 2014

Oregon Medical Board Has New Office Rules in Place to Protect Patients

The rules, set by level of anesthesia, regulate office settings for procedures for the first time in Oregon. Crafted in the wake of a tragically botched plastic surgery, the plastic surgery society president believes they don’t go far enough.

Jun 26, 2014

Washington Health Insurance Executives Outdid Their Oregon Counterparts

Our neighbor to the north doled out millions of dollars to its health insurance executives last year, with the CEOs of Community Health Plan of Washington, Group Health Cooperative, Regence BlueShield and Premera BlueCross walking away with hefty paychecks that included six-figure bonuses in filings submitted to Washington’s Insurance Commissioner.

Jun 26, 2014
Premium

CCOs Improve Care Where it Costs Them; Mixed Results Otherwise

The Oregon Health Authority released $47 million in bonus money along with the first annual report on the coordinated care organizations’ efforts to meet 17 quality metrics. The locally operated health plans for Medicaid clients are doing a good job reducing unnecessary ED visits and hospital stays for chronic conditions, but other metrics the state highlight in the report, such as an alleged increase in developmental screenings for children, are misleading.

Jun 24, 2014

Personalized Medicine – Can Its Full Benefits Be Realized If We Continue To Have Access Problems?‎

Much is being penned about the potential of personalized medicine and its promise of ‎better care for ‎individuals, according to this contributor.

Jun 23, 2014

State Fixes Funding Problem for Poor Women’s Contraceptive Care

The Affordable Care Act expanded the state Medicaid program to 350,000 new members, but it didn’t pay providers as well as a separate reproductive health program for uninsured women, provoking concerns from Rep. Mitch Greenlick that the state may be inadvertently hurting Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers.

Jun 20, 2014

Insurance Division Begins Process to Better Regulate Provider Networks

A chief goal of the division is to create more transparency for consumers shopping on Cover Oregon or elsewhere to ensure they know what physicians and services they’ll be getting before they pick a health plan. The division also wants to give clear guidelines to insurers for compliance.

Jun 20, 2014

Bruce Goldberg Is Alive and Well

The former director of the Oregon Health Authority says he's taking life easy and any rumors about his succession plan are unfounded.

Jun 19, 2014

State Review Board Delays Decision on Hep C Coverage Until August

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases recommends that Sovaldi be used with patients with late-stage liver disease, but state bureaucrats were ready to block coverage for all patients because of the high price tag of the drug and a report from OHSU’s Center for Evidence-Based Policy that raised red flags about the drug’s studies, helping the state in its attempt to get out of paying for treatment.

Jun 19, 2014

Next Steps for Single Payer Unclear While Dembrow Keeps Fighting

The state senator told Healthcare for All Oregon that a single-payer bill will need bipartisan support in the Oregon Legislature.

Jun 19, 2014