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Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are a hot topic among legislators, hospital administrators and physicians. They emerged in the market place in the wake of health care reform and have continued to gain traction. Nearly 2/3 of CAP Members are unfamiliar with ACO’s and over 80% have participated in no meetings, classes, summits, teams or conversations about ACOs. If you want to know more, here is a good place to start.

• Enabling Personalized Medicine Through HIT
  CAP provides input and support to Brookings white paper, Enabling Personalized Medicine Through HIT



• Brookings Dartmouth ACO Tool Kit
  Described as “a path forward for the implementation of ACOs,” this 100+ page toolkit provides insight into a wide range of topics including governance, organizational models, performance metrics and legal issues.



• A Path to Becoming a Model ACO
  Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare is frequently cited as a prototype ACO. Written by Elizabeth Hammond, MD, FCAP, for Accountable Care News, this article focuses on the key success factors that enabled the development of the Intermountain ACO and offers useful information for other organizations.



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



• Pathways for Physician Success Under Health Care Payment and Delivery Reforms



• Reforming Provider Payment
  An issues brief on accountable care organizations by the Engelberg Center on Health Care Reform at Brookings and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice



• Accountable care organizations: A new idea for managing Medicare
  an Explanation of ACOs, their benefits, and current pilot programs



• National Accountable Care Organization Summit – presentation materials
  Materials available from the ACO Summit, which took place in June 2010, as well as other information on ACOs. Sponsored by Brookings, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and others.



• Conversations on health care reform: Harvey Fineberg of the Institute of Medicine
  Interview with the president of the health arm of the US National Academy of Sciences. He focuses on the action items for hospitals, doctors, and patients—and the innovations needed to achieve the goals of health care reform.



• What health systems can learn from Kaiser Permanente: An interview with Hal Wolf
  By closely integrating care delivery, Kaiser Permanente delivers high-quality, cost-effective treatment. One of its senior executives outlines its approach.



• An Accountable Care Organization Reading List
  A blog entry providing a reading list with descriptions
  • Accountable Care News
    A monthly subscription-required newsletter for Professionals Interested in Accountable Care Organizations
  
  
  
  • Another view of ACOs
  
  
  
  • The Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform
    a leading voice on efforts to achieve high-quality, innovative, affordable health care
  
  
  
  • See CAP-TNN
    news on economic impact of health care reform
  
  
  



• Find out if there are any ACO opportunities in your area. Meet with your hospital or other ACO leadership to determine how you can participate or get involved. Remember, ACO leadership could also be a PHO or other integrated delivery system. Per CMS requirements, an ACO does not have to include a hospital.



• Develop or deepen your ability to demonstrate the value your pathology practice can bring to a pay-for-performance based reimbursement model such as an ACO.



• Identify the ways you/your practice can assist (now and in the future) in improving outcomes and managing health care delivery costs.



• Help the CAP Institute develop evidence-based guidelines to improve patient outcomes. ACOs and other pay-for-performance reimbursement models look to guidelines for best practices.



• Get involved in the CAP Module 3 Case for Change research initiative examining the changing economics of pathology practice and service models.