ONE OF THE KEYS for a medical practice to make a team-based approach successful in delivering care is to encourage staff members to work at the top of their licenses. It’s a commonly stressed theme in health transformation, and one that Mosaic Medical in Central Oregon embodies wholeheartedly. The idea is to allow team members to do the work they do best, which often results in freeing up primary care providers to perform the work “that only they can do,” said Christine Pierson, MD, chief medical officer for Mosaic Medical, a nonprofit community health center system with primary care clinics in Prineville, Bend, Madras and Redmond. Mosaic Medical opened its first clinic in Prineville in 2002 under the name Ochoco Community Clinic. Clinics in Bend and Madras soon followed, and in 2008 the group began operating under the name An interpreter bridges the gap between provider and patient. of Mosaic Medical. Mosaic has become a model for creative, innovative solutions in caring for patients covered under the Oregon Health Plan. More than 60 percent of Mosaic Medical’s patient population is covered by the OHP. In 2012, each of the organization’s clinics received an Oregon Health Authority Tier 3 designation, the OHA’s highest designation. Confronting opioid addiction Mosaic Medical’s 35 to 40 physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners work at a dozen sites in three central Oregon counties. The organization employs two clinical pharmacists, two dieticians, a number of behavioral health therapists such as licensed clinical social workers, and nurses and medical assistants. A triage nurse and nurse care coordinators work with each team, helping to ensure that patients receive care services from the most appropriate clinical provider. As one of eight community health centers in Oregon to receive a two-year Substance Abuse Service Expansion Award from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Mosaic Medical is launching a new program to address opioid abuse and addiction. The organization is in the process of hiring two substance abuse counselors and two nurse case managers to work specifically with patients with opioid problems. The treatment approach will involve both counseling and medication-assisted therapy. Treatment will be given both in-house, and in collaboration with others. “We believe we are well-positioned to do this because we’ve already integrated many other services, such as behavioral health providers and clinical pharmacists,” Pierson said. continues w ww.theOMA.org Spring 2016 15
OMA Medicine in OR Spring 2016
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