ACOs are defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients. The goal of coodinated care is to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors.
When an ACO succeeds both in delivering high-quality care and spending health care dollars more wisely, the ACO will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.
The PCC believes that primary care is the foundation of a successful ACO that uses transparent performance measures to achieve the Quadruple Aim of improving population health, improving patients' experience of care, reducing the total cost of care, and improving the work life of health care providers. In an ACO, strong primary care physician leadership of the care team is necessary to improve care coodination, and enhance preventitive care delivery.
For more information about ACO's visit the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) website
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Dartmouth-Hitchcock exits Medicare's Pioneer ACO program | Modern Healthcare | October 20, 2015 |
Rural ACOs that received loans from the CMS succeeded | Modern Healthcare | September 4, 2018 |
Study: Blue Cross avoided $155 million in costs in medical home project | Modern Healthcare | August 11, 2013 |
Medicare's Pioneer program down to 19 ACOs after three more exit | Modern Healthcare | September 25, 2014 |
The forgotten track: Medicare ACOs qualify for third MACRA option | Modern Healthcare | May 26, 2017 |
Patient-Centered Medical Home Evidence Increases With Time | Health Affairs | September 10, 2018 |
How To Ensure COVID-19 Doesn’t Delay Value-Based Care | Health Affairs | August 11, 2020 |
Pathways To Success: A New Start For Medicare’s Accountable Care Organizations | Health Affairs | August 9, 2018 |
Primary Care Transformation Across The Largest Safety-Net Health System In The United States | Health Affairs | February 27, 2018 |
Disinvesting In Primary Care? | Health Affairs | March 14, 2018 |