FROM THE DESK OF BRYAN BOEHRINGER Bryan Boehringer CEO and Executive Vice President Oregon Medical Association bryan@theOMA.org Ensuring that we innovate the health care system in a way that also provides for the wellbeing of providers will ensure that we have an adequate health care provider workforce in the years to come. Oregon’s Melting Pot of Innovation OREGON HAS BEEN A leader in health care innovation since the development of the prioritized list in the Oregon Health Plan in the early 1990s. In recent years the state has continued to push the envelope with the development of Coordinated Care Organizations and other innovative programs like the statewide Early Discussion and Resolution process. As most of you know, Oregon’s move to CCOs appears to be working. While there have been hiccups, and while integration of behavioral health is still a work in progress, the data has shown that care has been better coordinated. We are reducing use of our high cost centers and increasing enrollment in primary care homes, while managing costs within a more controlled global budget. Our innovation is also being closely watched by the rest of the country. In the winter of 2013 an article in The Washington Post asked the question, “Can Oregon save American health care?” That’s a weighty question, and the expectations it places on all participants in Oregon’s health care system are even greater. Transforming the health care system hasn’t been easy. With the constant barrage of change, the pressure on physicians and physician assistants has never been greater. With all of the focus on meeting “Triple Aim” goals, some have started to ask why we aren’t also considering the impact of this change on the health care workforce. In fact, some are suggesting a shift to the “Quadruple Aim” where we also incorporate the goal of making sure that “Triple Aim” improvements don’t come at the expense of health care providers. Fixing the health care system can’t be done by placing everything on the backs of health care providers. Physician and PA burnout is at an all-time high, and we need to ensure that the pursuit of Triple Aim goals is conducted with an eye to maintaining the wellness of those that provide the care. The OMA agrees that innovation must also take into consideration potential impacts on the provider. It doesn’t take long to find providers that are frustrated with the current implementation of EMRs that promised better patient care, but instead have added complicated tasks to physician and physician assistant workflows, and have created barriers between provider and patient. Innovating the health care system in a way that also provides for the wellbeing of providers will ensure that we have an adequate health care provider workforce in the years to come. Giving providers the tools to help combat our state’s opioid abuse problem was the central theme of the OMA’s annual meeting in April. Recapturing energy can revitalize a soul as well as an organization, and we were pleased to welcome over 250 participants and our panel of speakers on a Saturday. 6 Medicine in Oregon www.theOMA.org
OMA Medicine in OR Spring 2016
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