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ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization.

It is a concept that was created as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a nutshell, an ACO is a group of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations who work together in coordinating and transforming healthcare.

ACOs benefit both patients and care givers by accomplishing the Triple Aim:

Increase Quality

Reduce Cost

Improve Patient Experience

• ACOs are an extension of the Patient Centered Medical Home Model, (PCMH) in which the patient is involved in the decision-making process and the primary care physician coordinates care with all other care givers such as hospitals, labs, radiology, and specialists.

• ACOs are a neighborhood of PCMHs. Groups of medical home join together to and work as a team to provide the right care at the right time in the right place.

• ACOs go beyond treating just the mental or physical symptoms and are concerned with the well-being and emotions of the patient as well.

• Successful ACOs focus on the coordination of care and utilize care managers to manage the process. Care managers are your personal advocate. ACOs are about providing care transitions to ensure patients are taken care of no matter what care setting or what stage of life, from primary care to hospital to specialists to home care, and all levels  in between.

Enjoy this short video on the basics of ACOs.

Where are you in your ACO journey? Are you in the research phase? Are you in the creation phase? Are you established? Are you in the accreditation phase? We would love to hear about your challenges, how you are adapting to the changes in risk, any caveats that might be helpful to any ACO in the process of formation.