“We haven’t committed to an ACO yet, but have good relationships,” said Curtis Chastain, MD, medical director of Our Lady of the Lake, a group of 160 physicians employed by Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center. The two other groups, with a total of 150 physicians, are on staff at the medical center.
While Our Lady of the Lake has been rapidly acquiring physicians’ practices, Dr. Chastain says an ACO would allow the hospital to have other kinds of relationships with physicians.
Here are three principles for building an ACO that Dr. Chastain says the physicians appeared to agree on.
1. Share patient information. This would allow physicians across the ACO to share data such as diabetics’ hemoglobin a1c test results.
2. Share best practices. Physicians would need to agree on protocols for chronic care as well as episodic care.
3. Purchase the same EMR platform. The hospital is looking to purchase an EMR system, which the independent physician groups might be able to buy into.
Read more about accountable care organizations.
– AHA Report Identifies Best Practices for Accountable Care Organizations
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