Newswise — The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today released “Accountable Care Organization Principles” which it hopes will help guide regulatory activity regarding the development of these high-performing care systems mandated by recent health reform, as well as inspire significant improvements in the healthcare delivery system nationwide.
Enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (PPACA) at the end of March ushered in many significant healthcare reforms, including a noteworthy and singular change in the health care delivery system, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs are organizations that contract to provide services for a defined population of Medicare patients in a delivery model which allows successful exemplars to share in savings if certain medical care quality objectives are achieved. PPACA calls for the ACO model to be in effect January 1, 2012.
The AMGA ACO Principles, approved by AMGA’s Board of Directors, were made public today by Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., AMGA’s President and Chief Executive Officer, who said: “AMGA is taking the lead in promulgating these ACO Principles to help guide the 2012 implementation of improvements in our health care delivery system. The ACO concept has been tested and our members have been at the forefront of delivery systems quality and innovation. Many, if not most, function effectively as ACOs already. They are clinically accountable to the communities they serve, coordinate care, have invested in use of electronic health records, and embody ideas of continuous quality improvement. There still is much to be done in the regulatory realm prior to roll-out and the precepts in our Principles provide sound guidance for the way we believe ACOs should look to provide the best foundation for success.”
AMGA’s ACO Principles are:1. Multispecialty Medical Groups and Other Organized Systems of Care Make the Strongest Foundation for ACOs2. ACOs Must Be Physician-Led3. ACOs Must Be Willing to Be Held Accountable for Clinical Results and Cost Efficiencies in the Communities Served4. ACO Incentives Must Be Aligned to Foster Voluntary Participation5. ACOs Must Have a Primary Care Core6. ACOs Should Be “Learning Organizations” That Gather and Use Data to Improve the Efficiency and Safety of Patient Care
For full text of the principles, visit the AMGA ACO Resource Center at www.amga.org.
As part of its continuing efforts to support the development of ACOs, the association also continues to host a series of meetings in 2010 that bring together the leaders of healthcare delivery systems to educate medical group leaders on how to develop, operate, and maintain high-performing ACOs. The meetings focus on physician-led, patient-centered ACOs and go beyond the theoretical by bringing together actual case studies presented by the medical group leaders with firsthand experience in providing accountable care to their patients. Meetings have been held in California, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas, and are scheduled this month in Washington, Utah, and New Jersey. The series will culminate September 29 – October 1at AMGA’s Institute for Quality Leadership, subtitled the “AMGA National Summit on ACOs.”
In addition to the regional meetings and the national summit, AMGA is convening two collaboratives focused on ACO development: a Development Collaborative and an Implementation Collaborative. The collaboratives will offer access to content experts and provide a forum in which peer organizations can learn from one another as they begin to build and refine business and care processes to develop high-quality, efficient, and sustainable systems of care that provide high-value care to their patients and communities. AMGA kicked off the collaboratives in May with informational webinars. The initial meeting of the Development Collaborative will be at the AMGA National Summit on ACOs, and the Implementation Collaborative will launch soon thereafter. For more information, visit www.amga.org.
The American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation’s largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA’s mission is to improve health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to approximately 105 million patients in 49 states, nearly 1 in 3 Americans. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org
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