Providing Accountability: Accountable Care Concepts For Healthcare Providers

By RelayHealth

Healthcare expenditures in the United States totaled $2.5 trillion in 2009. Researchers estimate as much as 30 percent of those costs, or $750 billion, may have been due to overuse, underuse, misuse, and/or inefficiencies of healthcare services. Another study of the industry estimates that wasteful healthcare spending costs $1.2 trillion annually. The bottom line: Delivery of health-related care may often be inappropriate or unnecessary.

This paper will examine the concept of accountable care and its "Triple Aim" — better health, better care, and lower costs. It will discuss how a shift for providers from a fee-for-service payment model to one that rewards quality rather than quantity is possible through existing and new capabilities. Finally, it will explore some of the core concepts providers may adopt to collaborate in a major overhaul of the healthcare industry.