Health

Oregon Rural Hospitals Get Green Light to (Sort of) Join Forces

Regulators say 11 independent rural Oregon hospitals may unite through a new entity called the ‘Cascades Rural High Value Network.’ Boosters say the idea is to remain independent while gaining some of the benefits of being part of bigger group.

By Andrew Schwartz
Bay Area Hospital Coos Bay (bayareahospital.org)

Oregon regulators said Friday they would allow many independent, rural hospitals in the state to unite into a clinically integrated network, an arrangement boosters say would allow the institutions to share resources while remaining autonomous at a time when many smaller health care operations are getting hoovered up into larger systems.

The Cascades Rural High Value Network concept has been bubbling for a few years. As proposed, the 11 hospitals seeking to join the network—they are predominantly in Southwest and Eastern Oregon—say they would be able to coordinate care, invest in shared infrastructure, gain more negotiating power when purchasing equipment, and develop more administratively complex “value-based” payment systems with insurers—the sort of payment structure that is supposed to incentivize providers to promote population health rather than simply offering patients as many services as possible.

Whether the network would achieve its goals remains an open question, but hospitals leaders tell WW they are optimistic. The network would be managed by Cibolo Health, an out-of-state nonprofit that has facilitated similar arrangements elsewhere.

The Oregon Health Authority appears to support the deal; a spokesperson says the agency expects to assist the network with federal funds from the Rural Health Transformation Program.

Still, OHA regulators put a few conditions on the approval. Under Friday’s approval order, the hospitals would need to remain independently owned, governed and operated for at least five years.

And while they could negotiate value-based payment arrangements as a collective, the hospitals could not collectively negotiate traditional fee-for-service payment rates with health insurers.

Also, the hospitals would not be allowed to share “competitively sensitive” information, like pricing, with one another. And the network would have to publicly share its progress in an annual report.

Not every independent rural hospital in Oregon is set to participate in the new network, but a hefty chunk of them are. The planned members of the network are:

  • Bay Area Hospital (Coos Bay)
  • Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center (Bandon)
  • Curry General Hospital (Gold Beach)
  • Lower Umpqua Hospital (Reedsport)
  • Lake Health District Hospital (Lakeview)
  • Harney District Hospital (Burns)
  • Blue Mountain Hospital District (John Day)
  • Pioneer Memorial Hospital (Heppner)
  • Grande Ronde Hospital (La Grande)
  • Wallowa Memorial Hospital (Enterprise)
  • Coquille Valley Hospital (Coquille)
Andrew Schwartz

Andrew Schwartz

Andrew Schwartz writes about health care. He's spent years reporting on political and spiritual movements, most recently covering religion and immigration for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, and before this as a freelancer covering labor and public policy for various magazines. He began his career at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

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