Accountable Care Organizations news and information

In a growing number of contracts with providers, private health insurers are embracing accountable care, a payment model that holds hospitals and doctors jointly responsible for controlling costs and improving patient outcomes.
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Fledgling accountable care organizations have faced plenty of challenges. Now a group of economists and lawyers are calling for a close look at issues involving insurance, antitrust and other regulation to avoid “unintended consequences.”
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The proposed $3.9 billion tie-up between Community Health Systems and HMA highlights the rise of the hospital mega-system as a response to declining inpatient volumes and payment rates.
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Aetna, one of the largest U.S. insurers, continued its push into accountable care contracts, with five new deals in Maine.
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Most of the 37 organizations responding to Modern Healthcare's third annual survey of ACOs reported that efforts to track their performance included care-coordination measures.
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The push to manage population health may be fueling consolidation across the healthcare industry, but some systems are pushing back with looser partnerships that allow them to retain some independence and present fewer regulatory hassles.
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Editor's note: As health systems continue to diversify across the continuum of care, healthcare leaders will need to identify which services to offer and where to offer them. A recent Modern Healthcare editorial webinar, “The Future of Specialty Service Lines in a Diversified...
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A Special Feature on 37 U.S. accountable care organizations. Source: Modern Healthcare's third annual Accountable Care Survey. Published July 29, 2013, p. S2.
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Indianapolis-based Franciscan St. Francis Health earned a $6.6 million bonus from the Medicare program for its success at keeping central Indiana patients out of the hospital and the emergency room. So the hospital system will expand its participation in so-called accountable care programs to all...
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The closely watched Medicare Pioneer accountable care program finished its first year with modest cost savings while losing nearly one-third of its participants.
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