Trillium Community Health Plan Announces 2019 Innovation Fund Winners

EUGENE, Ore., Aug. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Trillium Community Health Plan (Trillium) has awarded grants totaling $1.2M to seven organizations from its 2019 Innovation fund. Grant recipients were selected from providers and community stakeholders driving innovative solutions that improve the health of Trillium members. In 2018, four programs were awarded grants for a total of $600,000. This year's allocation of $1M from Trillium was supplemented with an additional $200K from the Community Wellness Fund administered by the Oregon Community Foundation.

"Trillium's Innovation Fund is designed to help providers and community stakeholders drive innovative solutions that improve the health of Trillium members," said Dr. Thomas Wuest, Trillium's Chief Medical Officer. "This year we sought initiatives that aligned with our CCO 2.0 objectives. The organizations selected demonstrated a clear commitment to making a meaningful difference in the communities they serve, and we are pleased to the have the opportunity to support their efforts."

Grant focus areas include: Behavioral and oral health integration, Social determinants of health, CCO quality metrics\Alternative payment models, Value-based payments and Cost containment.    

Trillium's 2019 Innovation Fund recipients are:

• Bethel Education Foundation: Embedded skill builders in seven elementary schools to help children develop strong mental health, address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to students with barriers to mental health services, provide students the tools they need to access their education through significant support of social emotional skill building during the school day, and decrease adverse classroom behavior.
• ColumbiaCare Services: Providing a follow-up specialist to patients who access the Hourglass (mental health) Crisis drop-in center. The specialist will work with Trillium Members who do not currently have an identified Trillium provider or may encounter barriers to accessing services. The follow-up specialist will arrange (or provide if necessary) transportation, remain in regular contact with the member, follow-up with the member after the professional visit has taken place to ensure satisfaction, and encourage planning for ongoing engagement in services.
• Springfield area Integrated Health start-up: Begin operations for a new walk-in clinic as a Look-alike (LAL) Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). The new clinic will integrate urgent care access with family practice and pediatrics in one building open to all Trillium Oregon Health Plan members. These practices will be fully integrated with behavioral health and dental services 
• Lane County Health & Human Services: Oral Health pilot project that integrates oral health services into the Delta Oaks medical clinic to address the needs of two target populations who are at the highest risk for oral health problems: individuals with diabetes and children ages 0-5. The Clinic will be able to routinely provide oral health screenings and to actively connect patients in these target populations to a dental care home. 
• McKenzie River Clinic: Integrating behavioral health services into a rural health clinic in Blue River to improve access for patients. McKenzie Blue River Clinic is Oregon's first federally qualified Rural Health Clinic and has been in continuous operation since 1977. The Clinic provides the only primary health care in the East Lane County area, which is designated as an underserved area, with a current Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) score of 15 for primary care.
• Orchid Health: Integrating oral health services in a rural medical clinic to create local access for patients by employing a full-time Expanded Practice Dental Hygienist as part of the Primary Care Team and contracting with a Eugene-based Dentist to support improved oral health in Oakridge. The Project will bring integrated oral health to Oakridge, a community with no local permanent access to dental care.
• The Way Home Reentry Collaborative (Sponsors): A 100-unit Housing First Permanent Supportive Housing Project that targets individuals released from the Oregon Department of Corrections who are homeless upon returning to Lane County and at high risk to recidivate. The innovative project design integrates evidence-based practices for a high-risk population, and provides financial incentives to establish a value-based program.

About Trillium Community Health Plan
Trillium Community Health Plan currently serves approximately 93,000 Oregon Health Plan members through the CCO model, which began in 2012. Trillium is a recognized leader for outstanding coordination of care. It was first awarded a contract with the state of Oregon to help manage care for the Oregon Health Plan in 1999. Trillium partners with an extensive group of providers to improve care and access to services in Lane and Western Douglas Counties.

                                                                                               

SOURCE Trillium Community Health Plan