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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January 19, 2011 | Commentary
Short hospital stays, rehospitalizations and transitions among health care settings have become increasingly common. Financial policy changes should be implemented to incentivize longer hospital stays and better-coordinated post-discharge care.
May 2, 2013 | Journal Article
Major benefits seen from this Medicaid expansion trial—improved health and well-being; reduced financial strain.
August 1, 2010 | Issue Brief
In this policy brief, Fuchs discusses a value-added tax (VAT) that could be dedicated to funding basic health care for all through enrollment in accountable care organizations and help solve the revenue, and health spending problems, at the same time.
June 10, 2009 | Video/Presentation Material
Experts in the field of health care payment discuss a variety of solutions to correct widespread deficiencies and increase value in our health care system.
July 2, 2008 | Commentary
This paper explores the concept of accountable care systems (ACS), which may help improve the quality and care provided by physicians and hospitals in the United States. The authors offer several suggestions for implementing these organizational structures.
March 1, 2007 | Presentation Material
This paper calls for national organizations dedicated to performance measurement, best practices and provider incentives as a part of reform.