Oregon Takes Major Step Towards "Socialized Medicine" & Advancing Value-Based Payments to Improve Quality, Control Cost Growth in Health Care
News Release from Oregon Health Authority
Posted April 1st, 2021 12:05 PM
April 1, 2021
Contact: Contact: Philip Schmidt, 503-383-6079, Philip.Schmidt@dhsoha.state.or.us
Oregon Takes Major Step Towards Advancing Value-Based Payments to Improve Quality, Control Cost Growth in Health Care
40 Organizations Sign Voluntary Compact Covering two-thirds of people in Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) along with the Oregon Health Leadership Council announced that 40 organizations have signed a compact to adopt “value-based payments” which reward health care quality rather than health care quantity. This nation-leading initiative extends the quality improvement and cost-growth containment goals established through Oregon’s coordinated care model from public programs to the private sector. The agreement targets moving to 70% of payments following advanced value-based payment methods over five years and supports the work of the cost growth target program, which is beginning implementation this year.
Signatories of the voluntary compact include the largest health systems and commercial insurers, along with public programs such as the Public Employees Benefit Board, among others. With these organizations and Oregon’s Medicaid program, which contains value-based payment requirements, two-thirds of people in Oregon will receive health care from an organization that has committed to the value-based payment model.
“Extending the value-based payment innovations of our coordinated care model into the private sector on a voluntary basis is a huge step forward for high-quality, affordable care across Oregon,” said Jeremy Vandehey, director of the health policy and analytics division at OHA. “We believe this model—which will give providers the flexibility to ensure their patients receive the care they need—is the way forward for health care, and we applaud the signers of this compact for their leadership in taking this bold step. We see this as deeply intertwined with our cost growth target program, whose primary goal is to achieve savings for our state and its residents without sacrificing quality or access.”
“Oregon health leaders recognize that the health care system in the United States, which spends 75% more per person than that of any other wealthy country and gets shorter lifespans in return, is ripe for reform,” said Christopher F. Koller, president of the Milbank Memorial Fund, a national health policy foundation dedicated to advancing population health. “Oregon’s value-based payment compact aligns goals among providers and payers and sets a new national standard. With similar commitments to broad insurance access, comprehensive primary care, and health care costs growth targets, this value-based payment compact is the fourth corner of the foundation for an equitable, sustainable health care system for all people in Oregon.”
“Affordable, high quality healthcare is a goal we all share for all people in Oregon. Our value-based payment work with commercial health care along with public markets is one more way to extend Oregon’s transformation journey into achieving that shared goal,” said Greg Van Pelt, president of the Oregon Health Leadership Council, which is collaborating with OHA in leading this work. “We know that value-based payment arrangements are an important tool for the future for health care, and by Oregon providers and payers linking arms, we are working on a shared vision and a leadership role in creating that future.”
“Oregon’s hospitals have long been part of the work to move toward a system of value based payments, and we support the compact because aligning incentives improves quality and value,” said Becky Hultberg, president and CEO, Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. "It’s a testament to health care leadership in Oregon that providers and payers representing two out of three residents in our state have signed on. When our goals are aligned around what’s best for the patient, we create an environment that sparks the innovation Oregon is known for. We look forward to continuing this work.”
In Oregon’s health care transformation efforts, value-based payments are one of a few key tools to achieve meaningful cost containment while prioritizing quality care. Value-based payments support flexible, patient-centered care delivery that keeps people healthy, rather than following a volume-based, fee-for-service model, in which payments are tied to procedures or office visits. The compact’s principles direct signers to establish advanced value-based “payment models with upside risk only, combined upside and downside risk, as well as prospective payment models.” Under all of these models, providers are able to de-emphasize patient volume and focus on keeping individuals healthy with high-quality, multi-faceted services.
The compact envisions a transition over the next several years to new payment models, with principles setting out a target of moving 70% of payers’ payments to an advanced value-based payment model by 2024. The compact also makes clear that changes “should be designed to promote health equity, as well as to mitigate adverse impacts on populations experiencing health inequities,” and lays out a variety of strategies to achieve that goal.
Signatory organizations as of 3/31/21
AllCare Health
Asante
CareOregon
Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization
Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization
Health Net of Oregon
Health Share of Oregon
Intercommunity Health Network Coordinated Care Organization
Jackson Care Connect
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
Legacy Health System
Moda Health
Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems
Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services
Oregon Educators Benefit Board
OHSU Health
Oregon Health Authority
Oregon Medical Association
PacificSource
PacificSource Health Plans
PacificSource Community Health Plans
PacificSource Community Solutions on behalf of
PacificSource Community Solutions – Central Oregon
PacificSource Community Solutions – Columbia River Gorge
PacificSource Community Solutions – Lane
PacificSource Community Solutions – Marion Polk
Portland Coordinated Care Association
The Portland Clinic
Northwest Primary Care
Compass Oncology
Providence Health and Services in Oregon
Providence Health Plan
Public Employees’ Benefit Board
Regence Blue Cross BlueShield of Oregon
Salem Health Hospitals and Clinics
Samaritan Health Plans
Samaritan Health Services
The Oregon Clinic
Trillium Community Health Plan
Tuality Healthcare
Umpqua Health Alliance
Yamhill Community Care
Moving forward, OHA will partner with OHLC on a VBP Implementation Workgroup, whose goal is to ensure the Oregon VBP Compact is successfully implemented. The workgroup will identify paths to accelerate the adoption of VBP across the state; highlight challenges and barriers to implementation and recommend policy change and solutions; coordinate and align with other state VBP efforts; and monitor progress on achieving the Compact principles, including the VBP targets.
Contact Info:
Contact: Philip Schmidt, 503-383-6079,
Philip.Schmidt@dhsoha.state.or.us