Join Us This Summer: We Want to Hear from You!
Do you have ideas or feedback to make the portal successful? OHA is talking to health care interpreters, language services companies, CCOs and clinic scheduling staff.
Please use our Portal User Feedback Form to share your ideas.
This summer, OHA staff will visit clinics and host listening sessions with provider office staff and HCIs to learn what the portal should do to meet the needs of all its users.
A New Way to Schedule Oregon-Credentialed Interpreters
Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is creating a new online system. Required by Senate Bill 1578 (2024), the system will allow provider clinics to:
- Schedule Oregon-credentialed health care interpreter (HCI) services for Oregon Health Plan (OHP) members, and
- Bill OHP for these services.
This system will first be available for fee-for-service (open card) members, and later for members enrolled in coordinated care organizations (CCOs).
Senate Bill 1578 also directs OHA to:
- Pay HCIs directly for services to fee-for-service (open card) members.
- Contract with a nonprofit to support workforce development.
This page shares OHA's work toward meeting these requirements.
Project Roadmap (Updated May 2025)
This timeline is an estimate and may change. Specifics will depend on the chosen contractor's development timelines. Because the project involves many complex systems and a long contracting process, OHA expects the portal to be ready no sooner than 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
OHA hired 4 full time staff dedicated to this project. We are working hard to get it up and running as soon as possible. There are several steps to this project that are complex and will take longer than originally thought. For instance, the procurement and oversight process for IT-related contracts takes at least 18 months.
We can't make any guarantees, but we are hoping to have the portal open for FFS members in 2027 and then expand for CCO participation later that year.
Only HCIs registered as either Qualified and/or Certified through OHA will be eligible to particpate in the portal.
Providers serving Medicaid members are the general audience. At first it will only be available for provider offices scheduling for fee-for-service (FFS) members. The Portal will also ultimately be available to schedule appointments for CCO members as well. The Portal will bill Medicaid or the appropriate CCOs.
Important note: HCI appointments scheduled through the Portal for FFS members will be paid for by Medicaid, so Portal use will likely be limited to FFS appointments for which a bundled payment or encounter rate does not already include payment for interpreter services. That means that some clinics or services (like inpatient hospitalization, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and long-term care facilities) will be exempt from using the Portal because they are paid in a different way.
We are still figuring out the best way to support staff interpreters. We are looking at different options to make this work. For example, providers might be able to manage staff interpreter schedules directly in the portal.
We want the portal to track interpreter use for everyone, even if the interpreters are salaried and not paid per appointment through the portal.
The portal will produce and send tailored payment instructions to the appropriate payer (OHA or CCO). Our goal is for this process to reduce the administrative burden on HCIs. We do not plan to have the portal support HCI appointments with individuals who only have private health insurance.
After piloting the program for FFS, the portal will open to schedule appointments for CCO members as well and will send billing instructions to the CCO for payment.
As long as the scheduling was first attempted through the portal, and the portal was unable to fill the need, the portal will document that the provider met the requirement to make a "good faith effort" to schedule a Certified or Qualified HCI. The portal may then direct the provider to an alternative language services company to fill the request. Providers are also welcome to use their own contracted language services company for these "spillway" appointments when needed.
It’s important that the portal can support different types of interpreting — like in-person, by phone, and virtual. We also want it to handle both scheduled and on-demand appointments.
We know we might not always have enough HCIs available through the portal for every on-demand request, but the portal will still offer this option.
SB 1578 requires OHA to begin paying interpreters directly. The pay structure is not yet determined and will be negotiated between OHA and Oregon's Health Care Interpreter union, Interpreters in Action.
When the HCI union Interpreters in Action negotiates with OHA they have the option to negotiate different rates depending on language, region, and other factors. We will update this page with more information after these HCI rate negotiations are finalized.
For OHA to pay HCIs directly, we need to make changes to OHA's MMIS system, which produces payments for Medicaid services. This task involves complex systems, integrating both IT and finance processes.
Both these departments are aware of this project, participating in its development, and embarking on the steps needed for this system change. The timeline for this change will depend on many things including how complex the negotiated rate structure will be, what policies need to be created, what billing codes must be created, and the process of HCIs getting enrolled into the MMIS system.
We are looking for ways to minimize this timeline, and where we can start some processes early to get a head start where possible.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and Interpreters in Action are scheduled to begin discusssions for rate negotiations in August 2025.
At first, the portal will only be open to FFS members, which is approximately 8% of Medicaid members. We are looking at ways to increase adoption of the portal by CCOs in order to have greater impact and utility.
We want HCIs to be adequately compensated for their time and expertise. Details like payments for cancellations will be part of the pay rate negotiations with the HCI Union.
Yes! We will be holding additional input sessions for health care interpreters, provider offices, and CCOs. If you are interested in submitting ideas or participating in other ways, please use this online form to let us know.