slides: Oregonians Rank Best and Worst Healthcare Providers

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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Jack Rushall, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians receiving health care under the Oregon Health Plan have rated their respective local Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) in both a 2013 and 2014 customer satisfaction poll conducted by the Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP). Needless to say, certain CCOs appear to be satisfying their customers more than others. 

A CCO is essentially a network of diverse types of health care providers that work together within a community for people who possess Medicaid (under the Oregon Health Plan). In Oregon, CCOs range in size and in practice, with shifting emphases on health care support based on local issues. 

Top Performers

"Community is a critical part of our mission," said Jennifer Lind, CEO of Jackson Care Connect. "We focus on our long-term vision: for example, we are involved in aiding with early learning for preschoolers. We are focused on bringing social service providers (e.g. counseling) to adults in need, as we ask 'what types of life conditions are our members living with?'"

Jackson Care Connect was among the top rated CCOs in Oregon for 2014. It's largely community based, and according to the OCCP poll, it increased its member base from 20,805 in 2013 to 30,022 in 2014.  

Since the first CCOs launched in 2012 due to escalating health care costs (and a decidedly inefficient health care system), the current 16 Oregon CCOs have been focusing largely on distinguishing themselves from one another.

The OCPP report shows both adult and child approval percentages for eight different categories including how well their doctor communicated to the quality of their health plan. GoLocalPDX averaged these approval percentages to determine the CCOs where customers were the most and least satisfied overall in 2014. 

Taking the top spots for customer satisfaction in the 2014 OCPP poll are the providers Willamette Valley Community Health with an average 72.1% adult approval rating, a 78.3% child approval rating, and an overall approval rating of 75.2%; Jackson Care Connect takes the second spot in customer satisfaction with a 69.9% approval rating from adults, a 78.3% approval rating from children, and an overall approval rating of 74.1%. 

Bottom Rankings

The lowest customer satisfaction ratings for 2014 belong to Umpqua Health Alliance with an average 65.5% adult approval rating, a 66.8% child approval rating, and a 67.2% overall approval rating. The second lowest ranking belongs to the Western Oregon Advanced Health with a 63% approval rating from adults, a 73.3% approval rating for child care, and an overall approval rating of 68.2%. 

Explanations for the variation in customer satisfaction rankings appear to stem from differences in the ideology of different CCOs. Top rated Jackson Care Connect seems to go the extra mile. As the only non-profit CCO in southern Oregon (from Jackson County) Jackson Care Connect has focused lately on local discrepancies such as the lack of mode of transportation that has made working difficult for community members. Jackson Care Connect implemented a Bikeshare in 2014, which is available to anyone within the community (even non-members). It is likely that Jackson Care Connects’ emphasis on the entire community (not just members) has enlarged their own CCO community – and membership. 

Other thoughts behind a higher ranking among customers in the OCPP poll as provided by the CCOs themselves are varied, but informative. FamilyCare is the CCO that encompasses Multnomah (including Portland), Clackamas, Washington, and parts of Marion county. The CEO of FamilyCare, Jeff Heatherington, attributes FamilyCare’s high-ranking number six position to two likely factors. 

“The number one thing with service satisfaction is our creation of ‘ports,’ which are organized internally within our claims departments. What happens within these is that we have all our services offered through ports, and all resources are within one team,” said Heatherington. 

Continuing with his description of the number two potential factor behind FamilyCare's success in the OCPP poll, Heatherington said, “In 2014, we improved our access: we are paying all primary care physicians and knowledge-based specialists 75% more than what Medicaid normally pays.” 

It is possible that FamilyCare's high ranking in the OCPP poll is in large part due to its focus on allowing for outstanding treatment of its employees. Employees who are more satisfied with their own jobs may feel more able to provide better services to CCO patients.  

According to the data collected for the OCPP poll, FamilyCare increased its membership from 53,358 in 2013 to 114,893 in 2014, meaning that its membership more than doubled. 

Though all 16 Oregon CCO’s have increased their membership between 2013 and 2014, customer satisfaction ratings are diverse. Membership was lowest for the CCO PacificSource Community Solutions – Columbia Gorge with only 12,244 members, though PacificSource placed in the number four slot based on customer satisfaction in the OCPP poll. The CCO Trillium Community Health Plan has one of the larger populations of members (e.g. 89, 237), yet it ranks eleventh out of the sixteen CCOs in the OCPP poll. 

It is possible that all CCOs will continue to grow in size, but whether or not customer approval ratings shift is likely going to relate to the interpersonal connection that individual CCOs continue to form within their respective communities. Paying attention to individual needs of both members – and employees is likely to play a role in future customer satisfaction ratings. 

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Related Slideshow: By The Numbers: How Oregonians Rate Their Healthcare Providers

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