Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

According to findings from a new report from Leavitt Partners, a Salt Lake City-based provider of health intelligence, and the Orem, Utah-based KLAS Research, when it comes to accountable care organization (ACO) strategies, most providers are focusing on hands-on labor over health IT. Care transition coordinators, care management coordinators, wellness programs, and health coaches are the focal points of most ACOs, according to the report.

A number of San Francisco area providers and Health Net of California, a Woodland Hills-based payer, are forming an accountable care organization (ACO) for University of California (UC) employees living or working in the area. The hospitals joining in this initiative are the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Ramon, Calif.-based Hill Physicians Medical Group, and St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital both of San Francisco.

Cornerstone Health Care’s CIO Tim Terrell talks about the mission-critical IT foundations that will be required for medical groups to participate in the major healthcare reform-related programs, and how important analytics, and the implementation of IT solutions for care coordination, will be going forward

Changes in the industry landscape are forcing health plan leaders to reevaluate their value proposition while continuing to execute effectively on these core competencies. There is additional pressure on health plans to now be the engine that seamlessly powers the all-important patient-provider relationship. This is the perfect time for a health plan to embark on a transformation of its core service model, thereby putting itself in a position to capitalize on the service expectations associated with the changing industry landscape.

As hospitals, physicians and insurers deal with shifting reimbursement scenarios and IT investment demands, a recent Black Book Rankings (Clearwater, Fl.) survey reveals that 96 percent of organization executives are in the active acquisition process of several crucial ACO data solutions. Based on the uncertainty of their current system capabilities to meet reimbursement complexities, 88 percent of ACO leaders indicated they intend to seek external advisement from consultants and vendors to identify ACO provider technology needs and make system selections.