Winter Spring 2018

17 Winter/Spring 2018 Like DCBS, we need to involve our stakeholders in our decision-making. I want us to get better at reaching out for input. 4. How do you see OHA and Oregon hospitals working together achieve the Triple Aim? Hospitals are essential partners in our mission to deliver better health, better quality, and lower costs for Oregonians. Hospitals are cornerstones of our communities, especially in rural parts of our state. Hospitals and hospital affiliated health systems are vital health care delivery partners for the CCOs. And they’ve been catalysts for health transformation: hospitals helped stand up Oregon’s CCOs and they’ve spurred many of the gains we’ve made through our Medicaid waiver reforms, such as reductions in readmissions. They’ve also benefited from Oregon’s expansion of health coverage and the declines we’ve seen in uncompensated care. I’ve met with administrators and medical staff at hospitals across the state. I’m always impressed with their commitment to their patients, their insights into our complex health care system, and their hunger to make it work better. We need hospitals at the table as we continue to transform health care. 5. What are you most excited about at the OHA? Two things stand out. The first is our transformation story. Oregon has expanded health coverage, saved taxpayers more than $2.2 billion in health costs over the past 5 years and made big gains on a range of health outcome and quality measures. We’re not perfect and we have a way to go to fully achieve the vision of health transformation—but Oregon’s innovations are delivering results that benefit everyone in our state. I’m excited to work with hospitals, CCOs and other people across the state to take our reforms to the next level. The second is the staff at OHA. Each week I have office hours where any employee can stop by and talk. The staff haven’t been shy. Yes, in those conversations, people often point out problems. But our people work at OHA because they’re motivated by the mission and they want to find solutions. It’s my job to help solve those problems so they can do their jobs well. 6. What are your priorities for the new contracts for CCOs? We are just embarking on CCO 2.0, the process to create the next round of contracts for CCOs. I’m working closely with the Oregon Health Policy Board and listening to a lot of stakeholders. I’ve heard a lot of input about opportunities to address CCO governance and transparency, social determinants of health, behavioral health integration, value based payments,and a wide range of other issues. We’re going to continue to listen and get input. 7. How do you see Oregon’s health care landscape changing in the future? Now that voters have approved Measure 101 and Congress has finally reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), I’d like to think we have a moment to set our feet and answer some important questions about Oregon’s health care system. How do we better serve the 1 in 6 Oregonians who are diagnosed with a behavioral health problem? What can we do to get a handle on skyrocketing pharmacy costs? How do we ensure the financial sustainability of Medicaid expansion and our gains in health coverage? How we answer these questions will shape the health care landscape and in turn the wider communities our health care system serves. 8. What are opportunities for hospitals to engage and inform OHA priorities? We will have an extensive engagement process as we move towards CCO 2.0. I hope hospitals will be involved throughout the process. 9. How will you measure success at the end of 2018? I’ve told OHA employees that my goal is to get OHA out of the newspapers so that the only time we get media coverage is when we’re announcing a beach closure due to an algae bloom. But really my measures of success go back to the Governor’s priorities and her principles for how we run OHA: Are we making health care better for Oregonians, holding down health care costs for taxpayers, and rebuilding trust in OHA? 10. Tell us something not many people know about you. I referee high school basketball. I love doing it because the game moves fast and you get instant feedback whenever you make a call. It’s prepared me well for being the director of OHA!  H