TIME magazine has shared four commonly held concerns with accountable care organizations.
1. ACOs will measure processes but not hard outcomes. The list of measures required for Medicare rewards reflect aspects of quality care but may not actually measure how many patients are healthier. Measurements like how often patients are receiving body weight analysis or smoking cessation counseling do not necessarily reflect the health of a population.
2. The poor and medically underserved will be left out. Wealthier hospitals and medical practices serving richer populations may team up to form ACOs and exclude independent medical practices that serve poor urban or rural communities. This will leave these hospitals even more financially strapped and complicate the coordination of care for patients who may need the most help.
3. Regulations are too burdensome. Integrated systems that would have the easiest time launching an ACO — such Mayo Clinic or Geisinger Health — are threatening to refuse the ACO model due to the burdensome and prescriptive nature of the ACO rules.
4. ACOs may be seen as HMO redux. Patients should be able to partake in the cost savings of ACOs, according to some experts. This participation could take different forms, such as paying smaller copayments if the patient chooses a physician who is in an ACO. If it becomes more expensive for patients to receive care elsewhere, as an effort to keep patients in the ACO, then it may resemble an unfavorable, network HMO.
Read the TIME article on ACOs.
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1. ACOs will measure processes but not hard outcomes. The list of measures required for Medicare rewards reflect aspects of quality care but may not actually measure how many patients are healthier. Measurements like how often patients are receiving body weight analysis or smoking cessation counseling do not necessarily reflect the health of a population.
2. The poor and medically underserved will be left out. Wealthier hospitals and medical practices serving richer populations may team up to form ACOs and exclude independent medical practices that serve poor urban or rural communities. This will leave these hospitals even more financially strapped and complicate the coordination of care for patients who may need the most help.
3. Regulations are too burdensome. Integrated systems that would have the easiest time launching an ACO — such Mayo Clinic or Geisinger Health — are threatening to refuse the ACO model due to the burdensome and prescriptive nature of the ACO rules.
4. ACOs may be seen as HMO redux. Patients should be able to partake in the cost savings of ACOs, according to some experts. This participation could take different forms, such as paying smaller copayments if the patient chooses a physician who is in an ACO. If it becomes more expensive for patients to receive care elsewhere, as an effort to keep patients in the ACO, then it may resemble an unfavorable, network HMO.
Read the TIME article on ACOs.
Related Articles on ACOs:
Will Pioneer ACOs Come to the Rescue, or is the Government Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic?
7 Senators Ask CMS to Withdraw Proposed ACO Regulations
ACOs: Spend Now to Save Later?