OHA’s 2024-27 Strategic Plan: Takeaways for Providers October 15, 2024 The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) released its 2024-27 Strategic Plan earlier last month with the goal of eliminating health inequities in Oregon by 2030. OHA has identified five pillars to support that goal, each of which has its own specific strategies, actions and outcome measures. This Strategic Plan will guide OHA’s every decision, action, allocation and policy to move the agency towards the goal. OHA recognizes its plan is ambitious and that they cannot achieve its goal alone. Success will require broad community support and partnership. There is much alignment with SHS’s mission and strategic priorities and those found within OHA’s plan. Following is a brief description of each pillar along with a selection of notable strategies and action items that may be of particular interest. Pillar 1: Transforming Behavioral Health This pillar seeks to expand integrated, coordinated and culturally responsive behavioral health services for anyone experiencing mental illness or harmful substance use. It includes strategies to decrease the number of people accessing emergency departments for behavioral health visits while increasing the utilization of health-related services among people with severe mental illness and substance use-related needs.Notable actions of this pillar include: Improving data collection to better reflect services provided in the community and outcomes for the individuals using those services. Reducing the administrative burden for providers serving Medicaid patients to improve job quality and retention. Providing culturally responsive training, clinical supports and education to providers as well as families with young children. Incorporating the availability of culturally and linguistically responsive services delivered by providers in CCO and open card networks in relation to member demographics as part of network adequacy reviews. Implementing a statewide naloxone saturation strategy, designed to strengthen OHA’s relationship with providers and first responders and increase access to naloxone in the communities with greatest need. Pillar 2: Strengthening Access to Affordable Care for All Ensuring all Oregonians have access to affordable health care by prioritizing communities most harmed by health inequities is the ultimate outcome of this pillar. It looks to reduce the number of people delaying or not accessing care because it’s too expensive, too far away, inconvenient or not available in the right language. Achieving that goal involves a strategy to make access to health care more convenient through increasing providers, adding physical locations throughout the state, encouraging telehealth offerings and other services. Other strategies call for growing the number of culturally and linguistically appropriate care providers and Traditional Health Workers and increasing enrollment in the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC). Notable actions of this pillar include: Expanding access to vaccines, the WIC Nutrition and Health Screening Program, health screenings and lead testing for children and their families. Strengthening resources that support people in getting to their appointments, such as non-emergent medical transportation. Maintaining a near-universal health insurance coverage rate. Reducing the administrative burden on patients and providers. Pillar 3: Fostering healthy families and environments This pillar looks to foster environments that equitably promote health and wellbeing – particularly among underserved communities impacted by health inequities – by expanding access to safe, accessible housing; healthy nutrition; climate resilience resources and preventive health services. A key outcome measure is to increase childhood and adult immunization rates and reduce immunization disparities. One of the actions identified to achieve that outcome, beginning Jan. 1, 2025, is to implement training and technical assistance for providers and public health organizations including CCOs. Other outcome measures include lowering the rates of syphilis, severe maternal morbidity and childhood lead poisoning. Notable actions of this pillar include: Providing OHP and Marketplace members culturally and linguistically appropriate health information. Increasing the Traditional Health Worker and Health Care Interpreter workforce and utilization. Expanding access to culturally and linguistically responsive prenatal and postnatal care through increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for doulas, streamlined Medicaid reimbursement pathways and expanded CCO participation. Pillar 4: Achieving Healthy Tribal Communities OHA commits to support this pillar of the plan by empowering Tribal individuals, families and communities through a fully funded continuum of health rooted in traditional and culturally specific practices. OHA is in ongoing formal consultations with Tribal officials and Tribal health representatives through 2024 to develop the outcomes, measures, strategies and action plans associated with this pillar. Pillar 5: Building OHA’s Internal Capacity & Commitment to Eliminate Health Inequities This is an internal OHA initiative to develop staff and build the organization’s capacity to partner with communities and address racism and other forms of discrimination and oppression that contribute to health inequities. It provides OHA staff with the training, support, tools and professional development pathways needed to foster innovation and enhance accountability, while improving OHA’s responsiveness to partner concerns and ensuring that OHA staff reflects the communities it serves. View and download the entire 2024-27 Strategic Plan at the OHA website.
