An accountable care organization is a group of health care providers with collective responsibility for patient care that helps providers coordinate services—delivering high-quality care while holding down costs.
The theory behind ACOs is that well-coordinated care can improve health care quality while decreasing duplication of services, reducing the risk of errors and complications, and lowering costs. This brief provides an overview of ACOs.
Will this new approach to health care delivery live up to the dual promises of reducing costs and improving quality? This Health Policy Brief provides an overview of ACOs, their origins, and the current status of adoption by Medicare and private health insurance plans.
In this Health Affairs article, authors propose a new approach to help achieve more integrated and efficient care by fostering local organizational accountability for quality and cost through performance measurement and “shared savings” payment reform.
ACOs are designed to transform how health care is delivered by sharing financial awards among providers if they realize savings in health care spending. This review published in the BNA Health Care Policy Report takes a look at regulatory policy statements related to the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
RWJF provided formal comments to CMS on the proposed rule for the new Medicare Shared Savings Program for ACOs. These comments included the recommendation to look to existing regional alliances as key partners in payment reform for a given market.
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August 8, 2013 | Journal Article
Small and medium-size physician practices may lack the resources to implement health information technology and organized care management processes.
April 30, 2013 | Human Capital Blog Post
RWJF Clinical Scholars alumnus Elliot Fisher discusses the origins of ACOs and the effort to develop them in the nation’s health care system.
March 22, 2013 | Human Capital Blog Post
This is the first in a series of essays, reprinted from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics’ eMagazine, in which scholars who attended the recent AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference reflect on the experience.
April 11, 2012 | Journal Article
A new initiative of the Affordable Care Act known as accountable care organizations, received final rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
January 31, 2012 | Issue Brief
Medicare is experiencing a new form of accountability with the establishment of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), networks of physicians and providers who earn annual bonuses for containing costs and delivering quality care to their patients.
November 21, 2011 | Journal Article
The revised Medicare Shared Savings Program makes concessions and compromises to encourage a fundamental effort at health system change.
November 14, 2011 | Issue Brief
The final rule for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) received positive reactions, but what's next? These resources from RWJF and its grantees take a look at the final rule and consider where ACOs go from here.
June 6, 2011 | Presentation Material
Recommendations for a more accountable future in American health care.
April 22, 2011 | Report
Analysis explores implementation of the Medicare Shared Savings Program for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
April 1, 2011 | Issue Brief
Analyses explore implementation of the Medicare Shared Savings Program for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).