UMATILLA COUNTY — An annual report on coordinated care organizations by the Oregon Health Authority gives a snapshot of health care for low-income residents in Eastern Oregon.

The annual coordinated care organization metrics report published recently shows a strong performance from Eastern Oregon in some measures, such as controlling high blood pressure and diabetes, while the region lagged behind the rest of the state in other measures.

Coordinated care organizations are networks of providers, insurers and community organizations that agree to work together to improve outcomes for Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid) recipients in exchange for increased flexibility on how they spend those Medicaid dollars. They might pay for home visits to a patient after surgery, for example, in the hopes of preventing the need to pay for an emergency room visit for post-operation complications. A portion of the state’s payments to CCOs is based on their performance on certain metrics, such as number of emergency room visits, that indicate they are prioritizing quality care over quantity.

Eastern Oregon CCO, which covers all Oregon counties east of Wasco County, met 14 out of 19 “quality pool” measures to qualify for the money, either through meeting the state benchmark or meeting a target for improvement, according to OHA’s report.

When surveyed, 80.7% of adult Oregon Health Plan patients in EOCCO’s coverage area said they felt they were able to get appointments and care when they needed it, while 86.8% of parents felt their child was able to get care.

According to the report, 79.6% of children on the Oregon Health Plan in EOCCO received the recommended vaccinations before their second birthday, an improvement from 77% in 2018. OHA also reported that 70.1% of children covered by EOCCO received appropriate developmental screenings in their first three years of life.

Twenty two percent of EOCCO patients age 13 and older who were screened for smoking by a provider were identified as a smoker — the second lowest rate of the state’s 15 CCOs.

EOCCO worsened in the emergency room visits category from 2018 to 2019. There were an average of 54.1 visits to the ER per month for every 1,000 members, up from 51.1 in 2018.

The CCO came in last for the number of adults ages 50-75 who had a colorectal cancer screening in 2019, at 51.1%, compared with 48.3% in 2018.

It improved significantly in the percentage of adults whose diagnosis of hypertension was “adequately controlled,” from 58.1% in 2018 to 64.8% in 2019. It also successfully lowered its percentage of adults with diabetes who had concerning hemoglobin A1c levels, from 27% in 2018 to 22% in 2019. And the number of women covered by EOCCO who received postpartum care visits 21 to 56 days after delivery jumped from 58.4% to 65.5%.

In addition to the “quality pool” metrics, the report also covers a long list of other metrics that are tracked but don’t affect the CCOs funding, such as well child visits, hospitalizations for asthma and preventative dental care. To see the full report, visit www.oregon.gov/oha/HPA/ANALYTICS/CCOMetrics/2019-CCO-Performance-Report.pdf.