An HMO by any other name, except Medicare beneficiaries won’t have a choice-Accountable Care Organizations and Community Health Teams

Coordinated, managed care is a good thing and something that is sorely lacking.

However, the government should tell people the truth about Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) and Community Health Teams rather than burying the ACO in the PPACA or just alluding to the health teams in a Joe Biden e-mail. The goal of PPACA is to greatly change not only the way health care is paid for, but how it is delivered. This effort is not new, the concept of the pure HMO was tried forty years ago (HMOs for the most part are no longer true coordinated care organizations). I say tried because the goal of managing care through coordination among physicians in a somewhat closed environment was roundly rejected by both physicians and Americans. That is not to say the concept is bad, in fact the opposite is true.

http://quinnscommentary.com/2010/06/30/an-hmo-by-any-other-name-except-medicare-beneficiaries-wont-have-a-choice-accountable-care-organizations-and-community-health-teams/

Making sure accountable care organizations flourish

At a high level, the concept of an accountable care organization (ACO) certainly holds great promise for bringing all the various components of the care delivery system together to serve a defined population of people. In terms of implementation, a couple issues stand out in my mind that will need to be addressed in order to get the maximum positive impact from the accountable care organization initiative.

http://actionforbetterhealthcare.com/?p=805

Meetings Feature "Real-World" Examples on How to Develop and Maintain Accountable Care Organizations

Newswise — The American Medical Group Association announced that the most recent in a series of regional meetings focused on accountable care organizations (ACOs), hosted by Summit Medical Group in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, continued to build on the success of previous meetings in the series. This is the final regional meeting in the series, which culminates this fall at the AMGA National Summit on ACOs.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/nationwide-series-of-meetings-on-groundbreaking-delivery-system-reform-draws-medical-group-leaders-in-northeast

ACOs - Accountable Care Organizations: Now and in the Future

Because Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) promise to reduce costs and improve quality it seems like everyone is talking about them as the solution for what ails the US healthcare system.

http://www.healthpolcom.com/blog/2010/06/28/acos-accountable-care-organizations-now-and-in-the-future/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TIENewsLinks+%28The+Incidental+Economist+%28News+%26+Links%29%29

Make Medicare GME formula more accountable, MedPAC says

Washington -- Medicare financing of graduate medical education must be overhauled as part of the broader goal of health delivery reform, says the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/06/28/gvsb0628.htm

Mercy's approach 'proactive, preventive'

SPRINGFIELD - Mercy Medical Center believes it has in place something that provides high-quality health care while having reduced costs.

The model is known as an accountable care organization - an ACO in the health-care industry lingo - and it is a collaboration between the medical center and Hampden County Physician Associates.

http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-29/127770932090540.xml&coll=1

Insurer sees coming health insurer 'oligopoly,' doctors band together on system changes

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that health insurer WellPoint's investor-relations chief said Thursday that health insurers are "moving towards an oligopoly" accelerated by the new law. "New regulations on administrative spending and premium increases will push some independent insurers out of business or into deals with bigger rivals, said Michael Kleinman, vice president for investor relations, at a Wells Fargo & Co. conference in Boston. …

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100628/Insurer-sees-coming-health-insurer-oligopoly-doctors-band-together-on-system-changes.aspx

Treat Your Doctors Like Pilots

As many of you loyal readers know, I spent the early part of this week at HFMA's Annual National Institute in Las Vegas. One of the things I like to do at these shows is talk to vendors and their customers about what's bothering them and what's been successful in their efforts to improve their organizations—mostly hospitals and health systems.

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/LED-253024/Treat-Your-Doctors-Like-Pilots##

In Focus: Building Accountable Care Organizations That Improve Quality and Lower Costs—A View from the Field

Summary: In less than 18 months, Medicare will launch a shared savings program to reward primary care physicians, specialists, and hospitals that form accountable care organizations and collaborate in the redesign of care processes, improve care coordination, and promote high-quality, cost-efficient care. To receive payment, providers must demonstrate the impact their efforts have on specific quality-of-care and cost-reduction goals. Doing so is no small task. Quality Matters asked organizations that have been working toward these goals what advice they have for others.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Newsletters/Quality-Matters/2010/June-July-2010/In-Focus.aspx

Medical Homes versus Accountable Care Organizations

Like many of us who are still digesting the rather lengthy new health care reform law, I find myself in over my head on certain elements of it pertaining to newly-derived complex schemes to deliver and pay for health care services that optimize patient outcomes and bend the almighty cost curve. Two very popular and promising models are the medical home and accountable care organizations.

http://ashpblog.squarespace.com/blog/2010/6/25/medical-homes-versus-accountable-care-organizations.html

11 Things to Know About Accountable Care Organizations

1. Time to start is now. ACOs must be organized before 2012, when one ACO will be designated in each region, with each region having no less than 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries who have signed up for an ACO. The first organization up and running will have an advantage, because no hospital, physician or other provider can be involved in more than one ACO.

2. Goal is clinical integration. The ACO is expected to save money by integrating care. Providers will need to work closely with each other on the full spectrum of care for each patient.

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/news-analysis/11-things-to-know-about-accountable-care-organizations.html?sms_ss=twitter

A Guide to Accountable Care Organizations, and Their Role in the Senate’s Health Reform Bill

The accountable care organization has been a model for health care reform, yet its modest success has been limited to a handful of health care systems across the country. However, the accountable care organization model has recently taken on far greater significance since being introduced as one of Medicare’s pilot programs in the Senate’s health reform bill.

http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2010/03/11/a-guide-to-accountable-care-organizations-and-their-role-in-the-senates-health-reform-bill/

Accountable Care Organizations: Scrambling to Get Ready Now

SUMMARY: There's a scramble going on in cities all across the country as physicians, hospitals and other providers organize themselves into "accountable care organizations" in order to capture future financial rewards.

http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=09e8fc2e-f7b2-4328-881e-446d1d9402c4

Insurer Sees Coming Health Insurer 'Oligopoly,' Doctors Band Together On System Changes - Kaiser Health News

Insurer Sees Coming Health Insurer 'Oligopoly,' Doctors Band Together On System Changes - Kaiser Health News