Oregon
Change has come quickly in Oregon over the past few years. In 2009, the Oregon state legislature created the Oregon Health Policy Board and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to address the issues of cost, quality, and access to health care. In 2010, the Oregon Health Policy Board developed Oregon’s Action Plan for Health to lay out strategies and a timeline for actions that will lead to lower costs and improved quality in Oregon’s health care system. As part of the strategy, the Patient- Centered Primary Care Home Program (PCPCH) within the OHA sets the standards, recognizes, and...
Patients are the heart of any primary care practice. Patients and practices share a mission to improve patient health—a mission in which both parties play indispensable roles. Three AF4Q Alliances (Humboldt County, Maine, and Oregon) have developed a compendium of resources that details the implementation of patient engagement strategy. The toolkit provides case studies and insights into patient recruitment and training, clarifying roles and responsibilities, and developing a...
In 2010 Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation, a nonprofit quality improvement organization, launched its Patients and Families as Leaders program. This program provided five organizations—four medical groups and one health plan—with intensive training, coaching, web-based tools, and other technical assistance to help them establish patient and family advisory councils. Patient advisers provide a “reality check” for proposed service changes, much as consumers in other industries help predict the response to a new product and hereby reduce risk of product...
The Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative in Oregon is led by the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation (Quality Corp). Established in 2000, Quality Corp is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and affordability of health care in Oregon by leading community collaborations and producing unbiased information. The Quality Corp Board of Directors includes 25 members representing health plans, physicians, hospitals, policymakers, consumers and employers. Quality Corp’s consumer engagement program, Partner for Quality Care, provides Oregonians with information they can use to get high-quality care.
