Accountable Care Organization, Healthcare Big Data, Healthcare Portal, and ACO Implementation Resources
FEATURED ARTICLES: ACO
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![Pitfalls To Avoid In The Healthcare Market]( "Provider Perspectives On The Future Of Healthcare")
Provider Perspectives On The Future Of HealthcareA study reveals there are gaps in healthcare outlooks between providers and patients. By Christine Kern, contributing writer
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Accountable Care Redefines The Role Of The CIO9/20/2013
Provider accountability is keeping hospital CIOs on their toes and reminding them of their changing role By Katie Wike, contributing writer
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Overcoming Data Normalization Challenges9/17/2015
The rapid rise of healthcare IT (HIT) offers the potential for boosting the quality of patient care and streamlining the delivery of services.
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Patient Security Concerns Hindering Providers9/17/2013
Patients are concerned about how their private information will be used and are withholding information from their healthcare providers By Katie Wike, contributing writer
CASE STUDIES & WHITE PAPERS
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Take Your EMR From Good To Great12/29/2011Good EMRs help you improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs, meet meaningful use requirements and better serve patients. Great EMRs are a digital lifeline, critical to saving lives and preventing medical errors. This white paper outlines why this is such a critical distinction.
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Balancing The Scales: Selecting The Right EHR For The Life Of Your Practice And Your Patients3/25/2013
If we are at or approaching a technological tipping point in the history of healthcare, then it has never been more important for physician practices to select the right electronic health record (EHR) – and there are tangible reasons to believe so.
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How Is Clinical Decision Support Technology Driving Successful ACOs?12/8/2014
The movement to enhance and streamline healthcare through accountable care organizations (ACOs) is well underway in the wake of the issuance of final rules by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in October 2011. Designed as patient-centered initiatives that help doctors, hospitals and other healthcare organizations better coordinate patient care, ACOs are fundamentally structured to incentivize participating healthcare groups for achieving an aggressive set of cost and quality measures built upon improved communication, data sharing and decision making.
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Keep Ahead Of The 5010 And ICD-10 Curve5/1/2012
This paper examines the impact of the 5010 and ICD-10 initiatives from a strategic standpoint. The objective is to ensure compliance with federal regulations, while considering synergies around MU, business intelligence (BI) and business performance management (BPM) and resource maximization.
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
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The Problem With Consumerism In Healthcare
Many industry leaders championed a free market approach to healthcare during the 12th Annual World Health Care Congress last week. Here are a few key reasons why I don’t think this model is “the fix” our industry so desperately needs.
ABOUT ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS (ACO)
An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) utilizes a payment and care delivery system that bases payments to providers on quality metrics and seeks to reduce the total cost of care for a certain population of patients. ACOs use a range of payment models and consist of groups of coordinated healthcare providers that provide care to groups of patients. ACOs are accountable to a third-party payer and the group of patients for the appropriateness, quality, and efficiency of the health services they provide.
In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) set forth initial guidelines for ACOs to be created under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. These guidelines contained all necessary steps required for a physician, health care provider, or hospital to voluntarily participate in ACOs.
The quality measures used to evaluate an ACO's performance as defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) fall into five domains. These domains are patient/caregiver experience, care coordination, patient safety, preventative health, and at-risk population/frail elderly health.
The three stakeholders in an ACO are the providers, payers, and patients. Providers are a network of hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. The primary payer is the federal government, Medicare, but also includes other payers such as private insurances or employee-purchased insurance. The patient population of an ACO will primarily consist of Medicare beneficiaries, but in larger ACOs can also include those who are homeless and uninsured.
FEATURED NEWS
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ACOs Face Interoperability Barriers2/8/2016
According to a new report, a lack of out-of-network interoperability is the biggest obstacle facing ACOs today. By Katie Wike, contributing writer
ACO NEWS ARTICLES
- Upcoming Webinar: Data-Driven Care: The Key To Accountable Care Delivery From A Physician Group Perspective
- WEDI Releases Guide On HIPAA Transactions Requiring ICD-10 Codes
- Automated Quality Reporting Through EHRs Can Result In Significant Efficiencies And Care Improvements
- CMS Releases Updated Data On EHR Adoption
- West Florida ACO Chooses Sandlot Solutions As Partner In Patient Health Information Management