Flexible Services Programs
The goal of CareOregon’s flexible services programs is to reduce barriers preventing groups of people with a similar health needs from accessing necessary support. This happens via multiple partnerships between organizations with access to different pieces of the puzzle. These programs generally involve four different roles:
- A provider (i.e. health care clinic or community-based organization) working with CareOregon members who can identify members who may benefit from the program and submit a flex request for whatever the program is providing.
- CareOregon to review eligibility and approve flex requests (and fund them).
- A vendor partner providing the item/service to members (for example, with the Community Supported Agriculture program, this would be our farm partners, see below).
- Project Access Now (a CareOregon vendor), which manages payments to the partner providing the item/service to members, and then invoices CareOregon.
Programs & Partners
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Participating healthcare providers identify patients they believe may benefit from improved access to healthy food due to their diagnosis, which may include but is not limited to food insecurity, diabetes and obesity. If the member is eligible for Medicaid benefits under one of the CCOs CareOregon supports (Columbia Pacific CCO, Healthshare of Oregon, Jackson Care Connect), the provider can refer them by submitting a flex request for the member to be part of this program. CareOregon is working with multiple organizations that operate CSA programs.
- CSA Partnerships For Health (CSAP4H)
CSAP4H is a collaborative of nine Federally Qualified Health Center clinics (FQHCs), five regional farms, and a local nonprofit that have joined together to address issues of food access and chronic disease in the Portland Metro area. CSAP4H utilizes the strength of existing relationships between patients and clinic staff to prescribe a weekly prescription share of vegetables at no cost to the patients. Patients arrive at their home clinic each week to pick up fresh vegetables, taste healthy recipes, learn new ways to prepare produce, and build support networks that lead to improved health outcomes and a higher quality of life.
For additional details about this program please see their website or follow up with Zenger Farms directly. - Mudbone
Grown
Mudbone Grown is “a black-owned farm that promotes community-based farming” and will be partnering with other BIPOC farmers for this program.
Mudbone Grown’s Mission Statement: We believe in creating kinship, fostering cultural pride and community through the cultivation of land ownership, food production, and community building
Prescription Rx
Adelante Mujeres has partnered with Virginia Garcia on the Produce Rx initiative, which benefits Latina women who have been advised by their doctors to change their diet by incorporating more healthy fruits and vegetables.
Produce RX is piloting using a restricted debit card that can be referred be used at the Forest Grove Farmers Market and participating supermarkets. It also encourages participants to form relationships with one another through an orientation, farmers market tour, cooking classes, and group discussions.
For additional details about this program please see their website, review the Prescription Rx Manual or follow up with Adelante Mujeres directly.
Healthy Birth Initiative (HBI)
HBI is a program run by the Multnomah County Health Department. Part of the program is a pilot project where MCHD is partnering with CareOregon and Miss’ipi Chef to provide meals for pregnant and new mothers (and their families) for two weeks before the mother’s due date and four weeks after birth. As part of this work, CareOregon is also performing a program evaluation.
Research shows that breastfeeding reduces the risk of poor maternal and infant outcomes, but stressful events in life are associated with lower rates of breastfeeding. Black women and women with Medicaid coverage are more likely to experience three or more stressors during pregnancy than their white and privately insured counterparts, and food insecurity is considered a stressor. Food insecurity is also associated with poor health outcomes in children and adults, so the hypothesis is that by addressing food insecurity for new mothers we will see improved maternal and infant health outcomes.
Contact
If you’re interested in becoming a partner in an existing program or starting something new, please feel free to contact us at social.determinants@careoregon.org
