In his keynote address at HIMSS11, CMS Administrator Don Berwick, MD, said his office is planning to imminently issue “a notice for proposed rule-making for the accountable care organization rule,” according to a Health Data Management report.
Dr. Berwick also said ACOs will not be structured as revised managed care models and will operate in the context of Medicare’s fee-for-service program. He noted that ACOs were one of many new care models being launched by healthcare reform and developed by CMS, along with bundled payments and medical homes.
Dr. Berwick said healthcare reform will bring an end to the “hunter-gatherer search for information” in healthcare. While the legislation continues to receive criticism, Dr. Berwick says it should not be blamed for the anxiety and confusion in the industry.
“The Affordable Care Act is not changing the conditions; it’s a response to the changing social conditions … patients, especially Baby Boomers, demanding more medical accountability, the medical game being embedded in the social context of a service environment that requires transparency and responsiveness and healthcare being inexorably tied to our national economic condition as well as the global economy,” Dr. Berwick said, according to the report.
Read the Health Data Management report on Dr. Berwick and ACOs.
Read more about ACOs:
– ACO Regulations May Favor Bigger Networks
– FTC, Justice Department Struggle to Compromise on Antitrust Guidance for ACOs
– 4 Points on Exclusivity, Market Power and Transparency in ACOs
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