During the Strategic Advisory Committee meeting on May 20, a question was asked regarding the strategy behind Salem Health being a part of the MODA exchange product in the midst of Moda’s recent financial troubles. Salem Health is committed to patient care and finding new ways to improve the health and well-being of the people and communities we serve. Creating new partnerships is an important part of our strategy.
Participation in Oregon's health insurance exchange is an important vehicle for meeting our mission and ensuring health care access and Moda is a significant insurance carrier within our state. Prior to the creation of the exchange, those without health insurance tended to delay care, resulting in more serious medical needs that were detrimental to the patient and contributed to increased medical costs. These new agreements ensure our exchange patients can get services through Salem Health and care is coordinated throughout the network. The patients covered by Moda would be an expense to Salem Health, whether or not we had chosen to participate in the exchange product.
Our agreements with MODA and Oregon’s Health CO-OP create an integrated, multi-hospital network of providers with a shared level of accountability. This creates aligned incentives for care coordination that benefits patients. These agreements don't put Salem Health in the insurance business. They are risk-based contracting agreements with insurers. Partnering with health insurance providers is essential to enabling the type of care coordination and clinical integration needed to improve health outcomes. The Moda product will be offered in partnership with OHSU Partner members (Salem Health, OHSU and Tuality Healthcare) and several other health systems. Both Moda and the CO-OP are contracting with each hospital system separately to offer their product. Salem Health is not providing any funding to either insurer. We are agreeing to accept a defined level of risk, which is within Salem Health's financial ability to manage.
Our intent is to continue communication with our medical staff as we move forward.