New OSU-Cascades Health Model Aims to Instill the Value of Preventative Medicine to New Students
In the complex, ever evolving U.S. healthcare system, navigating the ins and outs can be a near to impossible task. Figuring out the differences between various insurance companies, network restrictions, understanding deductibles, the qualifying factors for the Oregon Health Plan or even planning a simple annual physical can be a complex issue that leave many discouraged, frustrated and at a loss.
Ultimately, this discouragement leads to diminished mandatory insurance enrollment and a lack of coverage and access to healthcare that is rampant, widespread and results in a system that sees people waiting far too long to receive treatment for a medical condition they could have treated earlier, at a lesser cost, both financially and emotionally.
Changing this mindset and combating this issue lies in preventative medicine and a new progressive model takes aim at trying to change the mindset, beginning with students at Oregon State University-Cascades (OSU-Cascades).
“Prevention here is the key to great overall health in the future,” begins Donna Mills, the executive director of the Central Oregon Health Council (COHC). “If you rectify a health issue early on, you can prevent it from snowballing into a major, more expensive issue in the future. Having an annual physical, a yearly oral health exam, a behavioral health assessment are all really key things that can promote a healthy lifestyle and be ultimately very cost effective.”
Mills is clearly passionate when she speaks about the issue of preventative medicine, something she says is an “upstream” investment in the future.
“Many simply aren’t aware of the resources that we have made available to them in the community. If you grew up in a family where the annual trip to the dentist or a physical wasn’t important, then you don’t see this as a priority. This is where our unique model comes in. We want to change the mindset.”
With the opening of OCU-Cascades campus, 1,000 new students will soon have the option of receiving free guidance from a newly employed health navigator that will help counsel them on their medical needs. Guidance will be given on everything from insurance companies to OHP, from reproductive to oral and behavioral health.
“We can really wrap our arms around these new students, show them that preventative medicine is the key so that they don’t have the burden of disease later on,” Mills states.
The free service has been made possible by a $373,877 grant over three years from COHC, a unique nonprofit organization that is “dedicated to improving the health of the region and providing oversight for the Medicaid population of Central Oregon.” The grant will be used to hire the health navigator.
The COHC is a unique organization in that it receives funding from PacificSource which after paying out claims and covering expenses, garners a two percent capped profit margin — something Mills says in unique to Central Oregon and the Gorge.
“We are devised to be very purposeful, by giving back and reinvesting into the community. Other areas simply don’t do that and you see a real lack in foresight. Our aim is to change the kind of thinking that you only go see your general practitioner when you absolutely have too.”
The partnership with OSU-Cascades is unique in that it will rely on the existing medical infrastructures in the community instead of the traditional model of creating an on-campus medical facility solely for students.
Mills refutes any claims that there would be extra stress on the system with the increase in users, saying that in the long term it will strengthen the infrastructures that are in place. “We need to make sure we are ahead of the curve by changing this framework and instilling better consumers of the available resources. An annual checkup is a lot less expensive than a full blown emergency room visit.”
Pushing the power of prevention is a role that Mills and her team at COHC is undertaking with pride and gusto. Facilitating grants such as that at OSU-Cascades is just one piece of the complex healthcare puzzle. COHC has just approved a Pacific Crest Affordable Housing grant of $350,000 towards a new $13 million build that would aim to help with both affordable housing and decentralizing poverty.
Housing and food insecurities are other issues that they focus on with Mills saying, “If you’re living in poverty, you aren’t worried about going to get your teeth checked, you’re worried about if they’ll turn the lights off. So let’s think outside of ourselves and look at the bigger issue. I think COHC is a great resource for our community. If we do nothing it’s simple math of what the outcome will be.”
The COHC was officially created by Senate Bill 204 in 2011 and aims to promote the health of the region’s residents, seeks to achieve the triple aim of improving health outcomes, increasing satisfaction with the health system and reducing cost.
www.cohealthcouncil.org
