Accountable Care Organization (ACO) News and Information

Accountable Care Organization, Healthcare Big Data, Healthcare Portal, and ACO Implementation Resources

FEATURED ARTICLES: ACO

Physicians Using HIT “Optimistic”
Doctors using HIT are optimistic about it once it is fully integrated according to one new study By Katie Wike, contributing writer

The ACO 'Guinea Pigs'
On December 19, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) selected 32 healthcare systems to take part in the new Medicare Pioneer accountable care organization (ACO) initiative. 80 systems actually submitted formal applications to take part of the program. By Ken Congdon, editor in chief, Health IT Outcomes
Leverage Mobile To Meet MU
Smartphone and tablet use encourages patients to take control of their health and helps providers meet Meaningful Use requirements By Katie Wike, contributing writer
Patient Engagement Tips For MU
Meaningful Use requires providers reach a certain level of patient engagement; involving patients in their own healthcare is key Katie Wike, contributing writer

CASE STUDIES & WHITE PAPERS

From Customization To Collaboration: Matching Mobile Devices To Clinicians’ Workflow
This white paper from Intel discusses mobility in the healthcare industry and selecting the right mobile solution.
Where Information And Care Meet: Secure Mobile Healthcare Solutions That Drive Care Coordination Mobile technology has long reached critical mass in the United States. Four of five American adults, or 83 percent, own some kind of cell phone, according to the August 2011 report, Americans and Their Cell Phones, by the Pew Research Center’s Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Leveraging Big Data And Analytics In Healthcare
With the cost of mapping an individual human genome poised to break the $1,000 barrier – bringing personalized medicine closer to reality – the healthcare and life sciences industries are now grappling with managing the explosive growth of data.
Intermountain Healthcare Saves $1.5M, Doubles MT Productivity
The transcription group at Intermountain worked closely with its Nuance Healthcare implementation team to plan for the go-live. Together, they developed a strategy for a fast, successful enterprise-wide rollout. Following the implementation at the hospitals, the rollout to Intermountain’s 150 clinics began.

More Case Studies & White Papers

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

The Problem With Consumerism In Healthcare
Many industry leaders championed a free market approach to healthcare during the 12^th 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.