Achieving the Triple Aim in Medicaid: Evaluating the Access, Quality, Health and Cost Impacts of Coordinated Care Organizations in Oregon (2012)

Principal Investigator: Jeanene Smith, MD, MPH, Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research

This study will measure the effects of Coordinated Care Organizations—Oregon’s version of ACOs for the Medicaid population— on health care access, patient health, quality of care, costs, and utilization.  It will include a qualitative element that will pinpoint exactly which CCO designs generate the biggest “bang for the buck.”

The study has three components:

1. The researchers will leverage data form the Oregon Health Study--a large-scale, longitudinal survey of Medicaid and low-income patients in Oregon--to evaluate the effect of CCOs on health care access and quality, as well as on patient engagement, health behaviors and health outcomes over time. The investigators will have baseline measures for patients sho do and do not enroll in CCOs, and they will compare these measures one year after enrolment to see if those who did enroll in CCOs fared better than those who did not.
2. Using the same study panel, the investigators will use Oregon's All Payer All Claims (APAC) database to estimate the effects of CCOs on utilization, expenditures per person, and expenditures per user.
3. Using qualitative analysis of organizational documents and stakeholder interviews, the investigators will build a framework for assessing CCOs. They will map this framework against outcomes to determine which key CCO design elements got the most high-impact results.

Publications

Oregon's Coordinated Care Organizations: Governance & Impacts
(February 2015, Webinar)