Biography at time of fellowship: Lisa Angus, M.P.H., a 2015–2016 fellow, is director of health policy development at the Oregon Office for Health Policy and Research within the Oregon Health Authority, where she oversees state-level health policy development for multiple projects and topics. Angus is a key member of the team that developed Oregon’s Medicaid transformation initiative and negotiated the state’s pioneering Medicaid waiver in 2012. In addition, she co-wrote and managed a successful application for $45 million in State Innovation Model (SIM) funding to accelerate health system transformation in Oregon. Angus now coordinates health services research and evaluation activities for Oregon’s Medicaid waiver and SIM grant alongside her policy development role. Angus has also lead projects in the women’s and reproductive health program in the Oregon Public Health Division, and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board. Angus received her MPH from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.
Project: Building and implementing integrated care systems in Australia
Several countries and states are experimenting with integrated systems of care to improve coordination of services across sectors, encourage accountability, and help control costs. Australia is no exception: existing Medicare Locals are to be replaced by Primary Health Networks in July 2015 and the Department of Health has recently announced the formation of a Medicare Primary Health Care Advisory Group that will explore innovative care and funding models to provide better care to people with complex and chronic illness. Angus proposes to examine emerging models of integrated care in Australia, focusing on the governance, financing, contracting, and accountability mechanisms being used to enable and support changes in care delivery. She will explore how local market context affects the development and structure of integrated care initiatives and how those initiatives are responding to the latest federal policy and financing signals. Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) and other U.S. models of integrated care will serve as comparisons; the academic and policy literature on the key features of successful integration models will provide a framework for the project. The results will highlight innovations and best practices for developing integrated systems of care, which will inform both health system leaders and the academic literature on health reform in Australia and the United States.