What Health Care Services Does OHSU Provide?

Updated

OHSU (Oregon Health & Science University) provides hospital and clinic care for the region's most complex health needs, alongside education and research. If you are a patient or caregiver looking for care, the main entry points are: find a doctor, get care now, get a vaccine, and look up conditions and treatments. Existing patients manage visits, messages, and billing through the MyChart patient portal.

Core patient services

Based on the OHSU site navigation, these are the services and tools available to patients:

  • Get care now — a starting point for people who need care without planning far ahead.
  • Find a doctor — search for a provider rather than navigating by department.
  • Conditions and treatments — look up a specific diagnosis or procedure to understand what OHSU offers.
  • Get a vaccine — vaccination access is listed as a distinct patient service.
  • MyChart — the patient portal for managing your care online.
  • Pay my bill — billing and insurance questions are handled through a dedicated page.

OHSU describes its clinical mission as treating "the most complex health needs in the region," so it is positioned for cases that may be beyond routine primary care, not as a replacement for a local clinic.

How to start as a patient

  1. Identify what you need. If you already know the condition or treatment, start with Conditions and treatments. If you need a provider, use Find a doctor.
  2. Check whether you need care soon. Get care now is the entry point for more urgent needs; routine visits go through finding a doctor or department.
  3. Confirm the practical details. Billing and insurance information lives on the billing and insurance page, which also hosts OHSU's price transparency information. Review it before a visit if cost is a concern.
  4. Set up MyChart. Once you are an OHSU patient, MyChart is where you manage care online. If you are new, ask about enrollment when you schedule.

Expected result: you should end up with either an appointment, a provider to contact, or a clear answer about coverage and cost. If you cannot tell which path fits, Get care now is the safer default.

What OHSU is also known for

Two areas show up prominently in OHSU's own news and identity:

  • Doernbecher Children's Hospital — OHSU marked 100 years of transforming children's health, with a milestones page for patients.
  • Research that feeds back into care — recent examples include an OHSU-led study testing telehealth support for autism, a first-in-patient use of a new drug for nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and an $11 million award for dental health research on tooth decay.

For patients, this matters mainly as context: OHSU is a place where clinical care and research are connected, which is relevant if you are considering a clinical trial or an uncommon condition.

Common sticking points

  • MyChart is for existing patients. It is a portal, not a way to request first-time care. New patients should use Find a doctor or Get care now first.
  • Billing is separate from clinical care. Cost and insurance questions are not answered through the conditions or doctor pages — go to the billing and insurance page, including its price transparency section.
  • "Most complex needs" is a positioning statement, not a rule. Nothing on the site says you must be referred or that simple issues are turned away, but if your need is routine, a local provider may be faster.