An Accountable Care Organization, or ACO, is a coordinated healthcare system that strives to deliver quality care at a lower total medical cost by focusing on several key areas:
- Coordination of care across multiple medical specialties and care settings, both inpatient and outpatient
- Evidence-based care practices
- Use of information technology
- Quality measurement and accountability for quality of care, patient satisfaction and the total cost of care
- Incentives for prevention, care management and outcomes
ACOs practice team-based care in which physicians, nurses and specialists work together to provide coordinated care for patients. These professionals come together and agree on ways to improve care outcomes. A strong emphasis is placed on proactive measures, including prevention, identification of disease, and ongoing intervention on disease states.
The Implications: Accountable Care Organizations Drive Value and QualityWith recent health care reform, there is much discussion about the benefits an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) like Kelsey-Seybold Clinic delivers to the patient as well as to overall employer value. Here are some important facts:
Accountable care organizations are responsible for quality of care and cost for a population of patients – focused on care coordination, best practices and quality measurement.
In a survey of more than 130 hospital leaders from organizations across the country, more than half predict that Accountable Care Organizations would be the best model of success for the future. – MedAssets (2010), Hospital & Health System Leader Poll, Preparing for Change
Prime examples of Accountable Care Organizations include Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Scott & White and Cleveland Clinic.
The 2008 Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare recommends, “. . .Medicare policy should support ‘organized’ systems of effective care management, with a strong primary care component. . .”
Dr. Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton University reports that with ACOs, “Care providers can stay on top of what preventive measures and therapies are most effective.”
For more information, visit Accountable Care Houston.
Accountable Care Systems with Proven Results
By Spencer R. Berthelsen, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Patrick M. Carter, M.D.
Through organized systems of care, individuals are able to access affordable, quality health care. Organized systems of care include some of the most trusted names in health care, such as The Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, the Geisinger Clinic, Scott and White Clinic, Intermountain Healthcare, and locally, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic. They are able to deliver high quality care at a lower cost because they focus on care coordination, evidence-based care practices and effective use of information technology. Continued. |