Oregon provider-payer hybrid aims to disrupt healthcare delivery

A 9-year-old health clinic network in Oregon that now is selling health insurance for the first time aims to challenge the healthcare system's status quo with its innovative model, Healthcare Payer News reports. After the Oregon Insurance Division required health insurers to raise their premiums for 2016, Zoom+ will still offer one of the state's most affordable silver plans, the article states. But beyond just affordability, the company hopes to provide an alternative version of healthcare reform through its 28 neighborhood clinics and "advanced care studios" in the Pacific Northwest, which offer perks such as telemedicine, health coaching, mental health services and parenting help all as part of the Zoom+ health plan. The company's next step is to evaluate its model and then possibly expand to serve other patients populations--such as Medicare and Medicaid customers--cofounder and CEO Dave Sanders, M.D., told the publication. Article