Since hospitals taking a wait-and-see approach to accountable care organizations face the risk of being left behind, PwC has issued a report with four key steps for hospital executives to move out of ACO limbo.
According to the report, many hospitals should get more aggressive about making the ACO shift, particularly if they are in highly competitive markets or have large Medicare populations. Here are four specific strategies suggested for hospital executives in the report:
1. Align the senior team with scenario-based financial modeling. The best way to jumpstart the shift to an ACO is to model the organization's current cost structures, the potential risks of the fee-for-service model and the size of the ACO opportunity. Seeing hard numbers and long-term financial implications is very important.
2. Choose carefully which capabilities to develop first. Executives should have a clear idea of the capabilities they need to add first and devise a sequenced plan to acquire them. These plans will pace the transition to protect ongoing business while still striving for first-mover advantage in an ACO.
3. Involve a wide group of stakeholders when designing the new model. According to PwC, the magnitude of change involved in an ACO transition "can knock an organization off its hinges." The key is to design it through a co-creation process, which calls for administration, physicians, staff and ultimately consumers to collaborate at various stages of the planning process to create a more personalized model of care.
4. Start small, plan big. From the beginning, hospital executives should have an end in sight. Senior leadership needs to articulate and discuss the benefits of ACOs to stakeholders repeatedly and consistently. According to PwC's report, executives need to "be clear on the big opportunity, promote it at every turn, and act boldly or not at all."
Read the PwC report, "In the land of uncertainty, a map to prepare for the ACO model," here (pdf).
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According to the report, many hospitals should get more aggressive about making the ACO shift, particularly if they are in highly competitive markets or have large Medicare populations. Here are four specific strategies suggested for hospital executives in the report:
1. Align the senior team with scenario-based financial modeling. The best way to jumpstart the shift to an ACO is to model the organization's current cost structures, the potential risks of the fee-for-service model and the size of the ACO opportunity. Seeing hard numbers and long-term financial implications is very important.
2. Choose carefully which capabilities to develop first. Executives should have a clear idea of the capabilities they need to add first and devise a sequenced plan to acquire them. These plans will pace the transition to protect ongoing business while still striving for first-mover advantage in an ACO.
3. Involve a wide group of stakeholders when designing the new model. According to PwC, the magnitude of change involved in an ACO transition "can knock an organization off its hinges." The key is to design it through a co-creation process, which calls for administration, physicians, staff and ultimately consumers to collaborate at various stages of the planning process to create a more personalized model of care.
4. Start small, plan big. From the beginning, hospital executives should have an end in sight. Senior leadership needs to articulate and discuss the benefits of ACOs to stakeholders repeatedly and consistently. According to PwC's report, executives need to "be clear on the big opportunity, promote it at every turn, and act boldly or not at all."
Read the PwC report, "In the land of uncertainty, a map to prepare for the ACO model," here (pdf).
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