Transformation and Quality

We believe a healthier community is possible if we all work together in a coordinated way.

We work with community partners to connect members to services that promote wellness, prevent illness and reduce costs to the overall health system.

We also work closely with our partners to address social determinants of health in a patient-centered, culturally relevant way.

Some examples of our work in this area include:

We are improving access to clinical services in rural areas for prevention and treatment before conditions become higher-cost needs, including access to clinical pharmacists, behaviorists, dietitians, and quality improvement (small-practice, wrap-around support team).
We partnered with Salem Health to fund a full-time parent navigator for parents of children with complex healthcare needs to help them better manage care and care plans.
We are committed to reducing costly emergency department visits. After identifying a small subgroup of the population whose emergency visits are frequent, we’ve implemented strategies to reduce the rate of these visits, specifically for those people experiencing mental health challenges.
We also aim to reduce the number of days in the hospital for patients with a history of high emergency department utilization.

Some examples of our work in this area include:

Health Related Services: We make sure member-specific health-related services and supports are provided if they are part of a member’s active care plan, including housing, transportation, gym memberships, air-conditioning units, mattresses, etc.
Parent education classes: All of our members have access to free parent education classes in both English and Spanish.
Employment assistance: We funded the Collaborative Job Start Program in 2015 and 2016 to help members minimize the social, emotional, and psychological effects of chronic unemployment, offering them case-management and skill-building education opportunities to make them employable and to help them navigate the process to getting a permanent job.
Service integration teams: We are servicing integration teams in our region that provide health-related services to community members in need through collaboration with clinical and social service agencies and partners located in high school catchment areas.
Transportation: We’re committed to providing transportation to our members in rural communities who don’t have direct access to healthcare facilities. An example of this is a grant we provided to support the Fall City Direct Connect, which provides transportation to healthcare services for its rural community.