Accountable Care Organizations: What are they?

Through a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) initiative is being launched January 2012 with the hope that these organizations will become a useful tool offering doctors and hospitals financial incentives to deliver quality services to Medicare beneficiaries and patients with private insurance while keeping costs at a minimum.

Instead of the current Hospital Centric Healthcare System we know today, where patients choose providers at will, Accountable Care Organizations would integrate and share responsibilities between a network of providers, including primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals and others, all aimed at providing effective, yet cost efficient care.

The hope in creating these ACO networks is to cut out unnecessary costs by increasing communication and information sharing, giving all providers responsibility for patient care, as well as financial incentives for keeping patients healthy.

Want to learn more?  Click on the following link for details about ACO’s and the impact they could have on healthcare in the future: http://n.pr/hgIqIH

Interested in both sides of the story?  The following link has interesting points from the ACO point-of –view and our current Hospital-centric system: http://bit.ly/idOkLU