ACO Options

Obama Administration unveils new ACO options.
The Washington Post (5/18, Goldstein) reports, "The Obama administration is trying to hasten the spread of new arrangements to coordinate and pay for the health care of older Americans, even as major groups of hospitals and doctors are skeptical of the government's plans." Notably, Administration health officials "announced a program Tuesday under which medical teams and health systems could begin the arrangements, known as 'accountable care organizations,' for Medicare patients by the fall." But just last week, the "American Medical Group Association, an organization of nearly 400 physician groups and health systems" in a letter to CMS Administrator Dr. Donald Berwick, noted that a "survey had found that more than 90 percent of its members would not sign up as an ACO," because the "proposed rules, it said, are 'overly prescriptive'" and "operationally burdensome."
The Hill (5/18, Pecquet) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog that the Administration "announced three new initiatives to encourage physicians and hospitals to" adopt ACOs. These include "a Pioneer ACO Model aimed at organizations that have already started coordinating care for patients," and "an Advanced Payment ACO Initiative that would allow certain participants in the program to get part of their expected savings up front to invest in care coordination." In addition, the Administration is offering "free Accelerated Development Learning Sessions to help providers learn how they can improve care delivery and coordination."
Kaiser Health News (5/18, Gold) reports that Dr. Berwick "said in a news briefing that the complaints from provider groups were 'nothing we didn't anticipate' and showed they were engaged in the ACO discussions. The Pioneer program, he said, is another 'exciting new option.'" Meanwhile, some "health care experts say the new program is intended to get some of the major health systems," such as the American Hospital Association, "back at the ACO table." CQ (5/18, Reichard, Norman, Subscription Publication) also covers the story.