Data show that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' Alternative Quality Contract, the insurer's version of an ACO, saw "a small but significant positive effect" on pediatric care quality, according ot a study published in Pediatrics.
Integration & Physician Issues
CMS has named 123 new accountable care organizations in its Medicare Shared Savings Program, effective Jan. 1, 2014.
Of the 100 accountable care organizations listed on Becker's Hospital Review's 2013 list of ACOs to know, 20 are headquartered in the West.
After nine accountable care organizations dropped out of the Pioneer ACO model this year, leaving the program with 23 participants, CMS is considering opening the application process to allow more organizations to join the program.
About 18 percent of hospital executives report having an accountable care organization in place, and that is expected to double by the end of 2014, according to Premier's 2013 Fall Economic Outlook.
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Maintaining positive relationships with employed and independent physicians continues to be easier said than done for hospitals and health systems.
Great Neck, N.Y.-based North Shore-LIJ Health System has added Orthopaedic Associates of Great Neck, a five-physician practice, to the system.
Arizona Care Network, a collaboration between San Francisco-based Dignity Health and Phoenix-based Abrazo Health, has formed an accountable care collaboration with Aetna.
More than half — 68 percent — of physicians still own or have an ownership stake in a practice, but that number is likely to drastically drop soon, according to data from Jackson Healthcare.
University Hospitals in Cleveland has partnered with UnitedHealthcare for an accountable care organization that will launch Feb. 1, 2014, according to a report by The Plain Dealer.