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Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative

January 31, 2012

The current system of health care is often fragmented and difficult to navigate. Issues that could be effectively managed in an office visit -- or that may have been prevented -- often wind up in costly emergency room visits that fail to improve a person’s health. For that reason, in 2011, the Oregon legislature directed communities to create a local, coordinated effort to eliminate gaps, improve health outcomes and reduce costs.

Safety net providers, health systems, and health plans like CareOregon are partnering to provide physical, behavioral and oral health for low-income county residents through the Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative. This group of public and private organizations is working to create a unified, regional system of care for the metro-area’s 216,000 people who receive services through the Oregon Health Plan. It will also serve those with high-risk health needs who lack insurance.

Members of the Tri-County Medicaid Collaborative include Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, CareOregon, Providence Health & Services, Legacy Health, Kaiser Permanente, Metro-area Community Health Centers, Oregon Health & Science University, Family Care Health Plans, Tuality Healthcare and Adventist Health.

Many other organizations are also involved including behavioral health providers, primary care providers, social service agencies, community-based organizations, consumer groups, business groups, dental providers, health advocates, health insurers and the Oregon Health Authority.

Together, these partners want to improve the quality of care and the care experience for patients and reduce costs. Strategies could include standardizing the discharge of hospital patients, intensive wrap-around services for high-risk patients before and after a hospital discharge, and a community care team to improve coordination.

The Tri-County Collaborative has formed an executive steering committee and work groups to address how this unified effort could work. After pooling efforts and staff, the group’s first step in 2012 has been to apply for a $30 million grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to help develop the system.

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