The following information pertains to the first 32 CMS Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations in 2011. Data was provided by Stratasan and published in a Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock blog post.
Integration & Physician Issues
Four legal issues carry the most concern around accountable care organizations: Stark Law, the federal Antikickback Statute, tax-exempt status and antitrust law. These laws are structured to prevent fraud and abuse of federal healthcare programs, but could potentially impede ACO…
The healthcare industry has reached a point where all four of the key constituent groups (providers, physicians, payors and patients) have significant economic concerns — providers and physicians about their revenues, and payors and patients about the affordability of care.…
War Memorial Hospital in Sault St. Marie, Mich., has acquired Northern Urgent Care, an urgent care clinic in Kinross, Mich., according to a SOOToday.com report.
Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial HealthCare is expanding its physician base from the city's north side to sites near the Illinois-Wisconsin border, according to a Chicago Tribune report.
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Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Tenn., has acquired Primary Health Care in Senatobia, Miss., according to a Memphis Business Journal report.
Steward Health Care System in Boston plans to affiliate with Hawthorn Medical Associates, a New Bedford, Mass.-based physician group that is currently affiliated with Partners Community Healthcare, a physician affiliate of Partners HealthCare, according to a Boston Globe report.
A new study published in Health Affairs has found the costs for major medical procedures vary more than twofold across markets, but costs for common chronic conditions are even more disparate — varying by about 15-fold.
Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Alliance has launched the Franciscan Physician Network, which will bring together doctors at more than 260 locations, according to a Journal & Courier report.
Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights, Ill., and Alpha Med Physicians Group in Tinley Park, Ill., have launched a joint venture to open a specialized women's health center in Tinley Park, Ill., according to a Chicago Tribune report.