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Winter 2011 Edition
National quality standards met: CareOregon health plans achieve NCQA accreditation
The National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) has awarded Commendable accreditation to CareOregon Health Plan and CareOregon Advantage Plus Medicare Advantage plan. “We’re...
Oregonians create their own health plan
Have you ever thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if I had a say in what my health insurance company looked like?” Now, Oregonians have the opportunity to help shape a consumer-based...
Neighborhood Health Center: Nurse-midwives help address health care disparity in Washington County
BEAVERTON—It’s a disturbing trend. Babies in America are being born too soon. Despite recent improvements, the preterm rate for all live births in the US is still higher than it...
Quality Improvement: A conversation with Deborah Eldredge: Nursing and health care transformation
Despite a calculus class that derailed her plans to be a thoracic surgeon, numbers are a passion of Deborah Eldredge, RN, PhD, director of Quality, Research and Magnet Program at...
SBIRT: Providers urged to adopt screening tool for drug and alcohol issues
Far more people have drug and alcohol problems than those who are treated for it. But a simple screening tool has been shown effective in getting people into treatment. And...
Updates from CareOregon: New members’ questions are the focus of MAC project
This fall, CareOregon’s Member Advisory Council (MAC) took on the task of answering new members’ questions about CareOregon and the Oregon Health Plan on video. CareOregon has a...
Statewide News: Oregon Health Policy Board forwards CCO design to Legislature
On the eve of the 2012 session of the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon Health Policy Board has finalized its proposal to continue the transformation of the Oregon Health Plan. The...
Updates from CareOregon: Seeking exemplary health care providers
CareOregon is continuing to seek out providers for recognition for the outstanding service, support and caring hearts they offer their communities. Dr. Steven Vander Waal, of...
Statewide News: Jackson County to investigate low immunization rate
Ashland has the highest percentage of children in the state for whom religious exemptions from immunization have been filed. The parents of one quarter of Ashland kindergartners...
Research: Report details cost of chronic conditions
Three quarters of all U.S. health care costs. $1.5 trillion a year. That’s the price tag for the chronic conditions that have the greatest impact on American health and health...
Updates from CareOregon: CareOregon leaves Klamath County
On Dec. 1, CareOregon notified members in Klamath County that the health plan will no longer be available in their county, beginning January 1, 2012. The area of ZIP code 97601,...
Updates from CareOregon: CareOregon launches Twitter feed for quick provider communications
“Tweeting” may be the quickest way to get word out to a large group of people with a common interest. That’s why CareOregon has launched a Twitter account especially for...
Updates from CareOregon: 3.5 stars from CMS: An opportunity to go for 4
Getting a 3.5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), as CareOregon did this year, is pretty good for a Special Needs Plan (SNP). Special Needs...
Updates from CareOregon: CareOregon’s Primary Care Renewal featured in care management report
CareOregon Primary Care Renewal (PCR) program is among the plans featured in Health Plan Innovations in Patient-Centered Care: Care Management, a report published by the Alliance...
Updates from CareOregon: ICD-10 troubles AMA, moves ahead nationally and at CareOregon
This fall, the American Medical Association made news when its House of Delegates voted to oppose the adoption of the new ICD-10 diagnosis coding set. The Centers for Medicare...
Updates from CareOregon: CareOregon Advantage (Medicare) formulary changes coming in January
Effective Jan. 1, 2012, several drugs will be removed from CareOregon Advantage (Medicare) formulary. In addition, other drugs will have new limits on quantity or will require...
Updates from CareOregon: Instructional videos available for CareOregon Connect provider portal
CareOregon’s provider portal, CareOregon Connect, is still new enough that providers may need some assistance navigating through it. Nine instructional videos are available to...
Updates from CareOregon: Member rosters available online, no longer mailed
Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, CareOregon will no longer mail paper copies of member rosters to primary care providers. CareOregon has completed its transition to electronic rosters. The...
Updates from CareOregon: Ambulance claims require diagnosis code for reimbursement
Effective January 1, 2012, all ambulance claims will require a diagnosis code for reimbursement, whether you use paper or electronic submission. This change is a result of a...
Updates from CareOregon: Walgreens pares back services
Walgreens Pharmacies has cancelled its contract with Express Scripts, which serves as the pharmacy network administrator for CareOregon and many other health plans. That means...
Updates from CareOregon: CODING PEARL: A “relationship” with multiple diagnoses
With Ida Landry, CPC My biological mother died of a diabetic coma. Tragic really, because it could have been prevented. She was an alcoholic and did not remember that she had...
Clinics' Corner: Kaiser Permanente, OHSU offer health care scholarships
Kaiser Permanente and OHSU’s Oregon Area Health Education Center have teamed up to offer a scholarship to high school seniors planning careers in health care. One senior at each...
Clinics' Corner: Nurse practitioner honored for caring for the underserved
White City—Nurse practitioner Susan Mix is the winner of a Spirit Award from the National Health Service Corps. The federal agency helps pay for medical education for health care...
Clinics' Corner: Virginia Garcia raises $1 million+ for wellness center
CORNELIUS—The new Cornelius Wellness Center has earned a boost from local donors. Over the past few months, more than $1 million has been given to the Virginia Garcia Memorial...
Clinics' Corner: Community Health to expand telemedicine capacity
WHITE CITY—Community Health Center has received a $5,000 donation from Plum Creek Foundation that will help the non-profit health care provider reach farther into underserved...
Clinics' Corner: Grant helps La Clinica gain mobility
MEDFORD—A new mobile health center will be driving the back roads and highways of Jackson County soon, thanks to a federal grant. La Clinica received $465,890 from the U.S. Bureau...
Statewide News: Oregon reduces rate of preterm birth
Oregon’s preterm birth rate—babies born before 37 weeks—has improved for the second year in a row. In 2009, the last year for which complete data are available, the preterm rate...
Statewide News: Accessible mammography subject of statewide directory
Women with disabilities may have difficulties finding mammography facilities in their area. A new online directory helps make getting a mammogram a little easier. The Oregon...
National News: Administration pumps funds into health care work force
The federal government has committed as much as $1 billion in funding to hire, train and deploy health-care workers. The effort is part of the Obama administration’s efforts to...
National News: Health care reform: an incentive for needed “disruptive” innovation
The fate of the Affordable Care Act will be taken up by the Supreme Court of the United States. If the court rules against challenges to the health reform effort, its success will...
Research: Telemedicine can cut patient mortality
A British study has shown significant reduction in patient mortality rates for patients with chronic conditions. Data in the study, published in Becker’s Hospital Review, showed a...
Research: School-based clinics reduce ED visits, improve school attendance
School-based clinics in Oregon, California and other states are becoming a small, but important part of access to health care. Now research is showing that these clinics and their...
Research: Stanford researchers make strides toward understanding autism
Neuroscientists at Stanford University School of Medicine are looking closer at a potential difference in the brain cells of people with autism. Understanding how the brain...
Fall 2011 Edition
Features: After a lifetime of writing, CareOregon member is in no mood to quit now
Meet CareOregon member Thorn Bacon, 83. “I’m going to keep writing books until the day I die,” he says. “And that’s not going to be anytime soon, because I love what I’m doing....
Physician Assistant education: PA Studies director sets sights on rural health, health care transformation
In terms of population, North Dakota is the third smallest state in the union. In area, it’s among the top 20. Growing up in that broad, sparsely populated area is one reason Judy...
Coordinating care: Pilot project explores better way to provide services to chronically ill
Vern has seen a lot in his 73 years. But the experience of a long life and a lifetime as a long-haul truck driver didn’t prepare him for the struggles of the last couple of years....
Provider Survey: Recognizing caring, compassionate providers
Online Surveys
Statewide News: State takes health care transformation plans to citizens
Oregon Health Authority’s cross-state tour to provide information about health care transformation came to Portland Oct. 10. The medical home operations at Oregon Health &...
National News: Kitzhaber: States offer best steps to address health care
Congress should look to the states for new ways to improve health care and reduce costs, Gov. John Kitzhaber told attendees at the 2011 Medicaid Managed Care Conference in...
Statewide News: 2011 Billi Odegaard Public Health Genius Awards
Jeff Levi, Ben Duncan and Paula Sampson were honored Oct. 7 at the Oregon Public Health Institute’s 9th Annual Billi Odegaard Public Health Genius Awards Luncheon in Portland....
Updates from CareOregon: Quality Improvement Report for 2010 is now online
CareOregon's Quality Improvement Summary 2010 is now available online. Ann Blume, Quality Improvement Manager, says the three key objectives for the program in 2010 were to:...
Updates from CareOregon: Flu season ahead: Vaccine is plentiful
Influenza vaccine manufacturers predict they’ll have plenty of vaccine this year, alleviating any fears that may still be lingering after previous years of shortages. They may...
Updates from CareOregon: Primary Care Renewal on television
From the original five primary care teams, CareOregon’s Primary Care Renewal medical home pilot has grown to about 80 teams. Statewide, even more teams are using the medical home...
Clinics' Corner: Women’s clinics to merge
As of October 1, 2011, Women’s Healthcare Associates, Women’s Clinic and Women’s Health Center of Oregon will merge and become one company under the name Women’s Healthcare...
National News: U.S. ranks low for newborn survival
Despite having the highest cost for health care per capita in the world, the U.S. ranks near the bottom of industrialized nations for infant mortality. Researchers at the World...
Updates from CareOregon: Monthly Member Rosters available online, on demand
Each month, CareOregon has mailed paper copies of primary care providers’ member rosters. This year, we’ve launched a more environmentally conscientious method for PCPs to...
Statewide News: Nation’s eyes are on Oregon’s coordinated care organizations
Since the Oregon Legislature passed and Governor John Kitzhaber signed legislation to roll the state’s Medicaid services—physical, mental and dental health—into one, more than...
Updates from CareOregon: CareOregon to transfer new clinics to the community
Over the past year, CareOregon has helped create five new clinics to serve uninsured and insured patients. Over the next few months, the ownership of these clinics will be...
Statewide News: State’s first mosquitoes with West Nile virus detected in Malheur County
West Nile virus has been found in several testing sites in Jordan Valley in Malheur County in southeastern Oregon, according to Oregon Public Health officials. Health officials...
Clinics' Corner: Multnomah County Health names new pharmacy director
Carol Richmond, PharmD, has been named Pharmacy Director for the Multnomah County Health Department. Richmond joined the department in 2008 as a staff pharmacist at Westside...
Clinics’ Corner: Acumentra Health renews contract as Oregon’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization
Acumentra Health has renewed its contract for three more years with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to serve as Oregon’s Quality Improvement Organization...
Statewide News: Work groups begin health care transformation tasks
The 2011 Legislature has gone home for the summer, but the work is just getting started on the key health care legislation passed this year. To that end, Gov. John Kitzhaber has...
Clinics' Corner: Celebrating National Health Center Week
MEDFORD—Community Health Center marked National Health Center Week with an awareness campaign to educate patients, staff and the community about America’s health centers. National...
Clinics' Corner: Columbia Memorial Hospital recognized for computer technology
ASTORIA—Electronic medical records right at the doctor’s fingertips, including medical history, test results and other critical information, is one tool for hospitals to gain an...
National News: Dietary Guidelines help Americans confront obesity epidemic
Say goodbye to the Food Pyramid and say hello to its replacement. The federal government’s icon to illustrate a healthy diet is now “MyPlate.” The change helps people better...
Updates from CareOregon: Manual, pharmacy and practice guidelines updated
August 5, 2011—Changes to the CareOregon pharmacy and practice guidelines and to the CareOregon Provider Manual are posted regularly on our Provider Updates page. Additionally, if...
Clinics' Corner: Virginia Garcia opens new wellness center
Cornelius—Coincidental with National Health Center Week, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center kicked off its Fourth Annual Health and Resource Fair with a groundbreaking...
Statewide News: Directory lists Oregon’s parenting education resources
Most of what goes into “health” happens outside the doctor’s office. And parents, the most important influence on a child’s health, can sometimes use help. Across Oregon, more...
Statewide News: Oregon Health Authority details 2011-2013 budget cuts
The 2011 Oregon Legislative session is over. The state’s economic condition required difficult decisions that will affect every Oregonian. An increased demand for services and the...
Statewide News: Q&A about the health insurance exchange
The Legislature has voted to create a health insurance exchange under the national health care reform law. The Oregonian’s Bill Graves asked the Oregon Health Authority and Nora...
Clinics' Corner: Providing care in rural Oregon
Shady Cove—For 18 years, Nurse Practitioner Kathy Finley and her husband, Glen, have owned and operated the Shady Cove Medical Center in Jackson County, meeting the challenges of...
Updates from CareOregon: CODING PEARL: What constitutes good documentation?
With Ida Landry, CPC Recently I talked with a clinician who shared his frustration about spending more time documenting in his EMR than actually seeing the...
Updates from CareOregon: Member Advisory Council work reaches beyond CareOregon
Members of CareOregon’s Member Advisory Council continue to work on projects to make health care better. MAC member Mahin Asgari-Sereshki was recently named by Gov. John...
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