ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization. These groups are growing in number driven by healthcare reform. ACOs are groups of hospitals,
doctors, or other healthcare providers who come together to coordinate care for
Medicare patients. The mission of ACOs are to
ensure that Medicare patients get the right care at the right time while
avoiding duplication of services and preventing medial errors. Their goal is to help control costs and improve the quality of care.
What does this mean to the supply chain? Vendors and supply chain professionals will be
important partners. With many of the ACOs, physicians are now the main
decision-makers and value-purchasing is becoming important. Key items that will
impact the supply chain are information management, vendor alignment, and
physician and clinical integration.
Determine how your business can assist in those efforts. Being a resource for these new organizations
will solidify your involvement and hopefully grow your business.
Earlier this year CMS released an ACOs performance report
for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
The results were mixed. There were 29 of the 114 Medicare ACOs who saved
$128 million for the Medicare trust fund and additional 25 spent less than
their benchmarks. However 60
organizations scored below budget and 85 organizations failed to produce
savings.* Most experts agree these are not bad results for the first year of many of these programs. The ACOs that are lagging
behind are learning from the successful organizations to improve results as they go
forward.
Time will tell how ACOs change the provider landscape and how customers are impacted. Keeping up with the constant shifts in healthcare is important and evaluating how your organization fits into the picture if vital to long term success.
*Source: Stats were provided from ACO Insights Magazine.
*Source: Stats were provided from ACO Insights Magazine.
