There are three main factors associated with formation of accountable care organizations, be they Medicare or private-payer ACOs, according to a new RAND Corporation study published in Health Affairs.
Researchers analyzed 148 Medicare and 77 private-payer ACOs. In the analysis, they found the following three factors to be associated with ACO formation:
• Physicians practicing in large groups
• A greater fraction of hospital risk sharing
• Larger integrated hospital systems
Other factors, like area income, hospital concentration and high per capita Medicare spending, were not found to be associated with ACO formation.
ACO formation varies widely in terms of geographic distribution as well, the study found. The Northeast and Midwest areas have many ACOs, while the Northwest lags behind in ACO proliferation.
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