Accountable Care Organization

Excerpt

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has as its primary goal the creation of value for the patients of our healthcare system. One of the main ways it accomplishes value-based outcomes is driven by incentivizing doctors, hospitals, and healthcare providers to coordinate clinically efficient patient care. The healthcare providers become eligible for various (financial and/or other occupationally-based) bonuses when clinical care is delivered effectively with quality outcomes. Strategies such as the Bundled Payment Care Initiative (BPCI) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) will emphasize reducing expensive and unnecessary services and becoming more cost-effective for patients. Hospitals and physicians must meet specific quality benchmarks, which focus on disease prevention, carefully managing patients with chronic diseases, and keeping patients healthy.