Draft criteria for accountable care organizations from the National Committee for Quality Assurance are "burdensome and overly prescriptive," according to a letter to CMS from the Federation of American Hospitals.
"Healthcare providers are already licensed and certified under a number of different and very extensive regulatory and quasi-regulatory frameworks," the letter states. "We do not see the need for an additional, very expansive layer of an accreditation-type processes and scoring mechanisms."
Since proposed regulations for ACOs have not yet been issued, "it seems premature and potentially misguided for a definitive set of qualifying criteria to be proposed," the letter said. "We believe mandating processes in this way is counter to the intent of the legislation and potentially introduces more and unnecessary inefficiencies and cost."
Among other things, the NCQA-proposed standards would require ACOs to:
* Ensure primary care practices within the ACO provide patient-centered care.
* Conduct an initial assessment of new patients' health.
* Support use of patient care registries, electronic prescribing and patient self-management.
* Facilitate timely information exchange between primary care, specialty care and hospitals for care coordination and transitions.
* Measure and report clinical quality of care, patient experience and cost.
* Measure and analyze performance at least annually and take action to improve effectiveness in certain key areas.
Read the Federation of American Hospitals letter to CMS (pdf).
Read further coverage of proposed standards for ACOs:
- Accrediting Body Issues Proposed Standards for ACOs, Asks for Comment
- AMGA Offers Feedback to NCQA's 2011 ACO Criteria
- Premier Healthcare Alliance Offers Feedback to 2011 ACO Criteria
"Healthcare providers are already licensed and certified under a number of different and very extensive regulatory and quasi-regulatory frameworks," the letter states. "We do not see the need for an additional, very expansive layer of an accreditation-type processes and scoring mechanisms."
Since proposed regulations for ACOs have not yet been issued, "it seems premature and potentially misguided for a definitive set of qualifying criteria to be proposed," the letter said. "We believe mandating processes in this way is counter to the intent of the legislation and potentially introduces more and unnecessary inefficiencies and cost."
Among other things, the NCQA-proposed standards would require ACOs to:
* Ensure primary care practices within the ACO provide patient-centered care.
* Conduct an initial assessment of new patients' health.
* Support use of patient care registries, electronic prescribing and patient self-management.
* Facilitate timely information exchange between primary care, specialty care and hospitals for care coordination and transitions.
* Measure and report clinical quality of care, patient experience and cost.
* Measure and analyze performance at least annually and take action to improve effectiveness in certain key areas.
Read the Federation of American Hospitals letter to CMS (pdf).
Read further coverage of proposed standards for ACOs:
- Accrediting Body Issues Proposed Standards for ACOs, Asks for Comment
- AMGA Offers Feedback to NCQA's 2011 ACO Criteria
- Premier Healthcare Alliance Offers Feedback to 2011 ACO Criteria