Monday, August 2, 2010

Under the health reform law, Medicare will be able to contract with these to provide care to enrollees. What are they and how will they work?

What's the issue?
The health care reform legislation enacted in March 2010 authorizes the Medicare program to contract with accountable care organizations (ACOs). These are networks of physicians and other providers that could work together to improve the quality of health care services and reduce costs for a defined patient population. This brief describes the ACO concept as set forth in the new legislation, discusses how ACOs might evolve over time, and reviews the challenges and opportunities facing health systems, physicians, administrators, insurers, patients, and policy makers as ACOs take shape.

http://www.healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief.php?brief_id=20

No comments:

Post a Comment