A recent report by Grant Thornton shares five considerations for hospitals and providers as they begin the process of developing an accountable care organization.
The report, " Accountable Care Organizations: What Health Care Organizations Can — and Should — Do to Get Ready," provides an overview of Medicare' ACO program and discusses a number of the questions that surround these organizations.
The report then provides the following five considerations for healthcare organizations looking to form ACOs:
1. Physician alignment. Organizations will need to determine if their physicians are able to serve the required patient population needed to participate in the program. If organizations meet this threshold, they must then look to collaborate with physicians to meet the quality and cost requirements of ACOs
2. Process improvement and cost efficiencies. "Organizations will need to review their current processes and determine how they can be improved — for example, by streamlining operations, reducing expenses, cutting hospital admissions and avoiding duplicate tests," according to the report.
3. Promoting quality over volume. Incentives must favor quality over volume in order to be successful under the ACO model.
4. IT infractructure and systems. At a minimum, information technology systems must be able to track admissions, tests referred, infection rates, patient falls and other critical metrics, according to the report. Organizations whose IT does not meet these minimum requirements will need to upgrade their systems.
5. Negotiating with insurers. Finally, the report recommends organization that are able to keep patients healthier should use that to negotiate higher payments from insurers to make up losses from reduced utilization of services.
Read the Grant Thornton report on accountable care organizations.
Read more coverage on accountable care organizations:
- ACOs May Not Need Hospitals to Be Successful
- 5 Errors That Can Cripple an ACO
- 6 Keys to Successfully Fitting Healthcare Information Technology Into Accountable Care Organizations
The report, " Accountable Care Organizations: What Health Care Organizations Can — and Should — Do to Get Ready," provides an overview of Medicare' ACO program and discusses a number of the questions that surround these organizations.
The report then provides the following five considerations for healthcare organizations looking to form ACOs:
1. Physician alignment. Organizations will need to determine if their physicians are able to serve the required patient population needed to participate in the program. If organizations meet this threshold, they must then look to collaborate with physicians to meet the quality and cost requirements of ACOs
2. Process improvement and cost efficiencies. "Organizations will need to review their current processes and determine how they can be improved — for example, by streamlining operations, reducing expenses, cutting hospital admissions and avoiding duplicate tests," according to the report.
3. Promoting quality over volume. Incentives must favor quality over volume in order to be successful under the ACO model.
4. IT infractructure and systems. At a minimum, information technology systems must be able to track admissions, tests referred, infection rates, patient falls and other critical metrics, according to the report. Organizations whose IT does not meet these minimum requirements will need to upgrade their systems.
5. Negotiating with insurers. Finally, the report recommends organization that are able to keep patients healthier should use that to negotiate higher payments from insurers to make up losses from reduced utilization of services.
Read the Grant Thornton report on accountable care organizations.
Read more coverage on accountable care organizations:
- ACOs May Not Need Hospitals to Be Successful
- 5 Errors That Can Cripple an ACO
- 6 Keys to Successfully Fitting Healthcare Information Technology Into Accountable Care Organizations