ACO Accountable Care Organization Learning Network

Resources

Title	Source	Author(s)	Date Published
Building the Path to Accountable Care	New England Journal of Medicine	Elliott S. M.P.H M.D. Fisher , Mark B. Ph.D. M.D. McClellan , Dana G. Sc.D. Safran	2011-12-29
The release of the regulations that will govern the early years of Medicare's implementation of accountable care organizations (ACOs) provides an important moment to reflect on the transition to this new payment model, which offers health care providers flexible financial support for improving care in return for accepting accountability for its overall quality and cost. It's also an appropriate moment to explore the challenges that must be overcome in order to make more rapid progress. view resource
Pioneer ACOs: Promise And Potential Pitfalls	Health Affairs	Steve Lieberman	2011-12-29
The December 19 announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of 32 Medicare Pioneer ACOs underscores the transition of “shared savings” and “accountable care” from policy concepts to implementation. Implementing Pioneer ACOs raises two critical questions: will they succeed and, if they do, can their success be generalized to less well-organized and experienced entities? view resource
Welcome Progress, But the Final Verdict on ACOs Is Yet to Come	Health Affairs	Debra Ness , William Kramer	2011-10-27
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its final rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). By responding thoughtfully to comments on the proposed rule, and balancing competing interests, the agency has given us a welcome respite from the pitched battles that are raging over so many aspects of health reform. But the real measure of success will be whether successful ACOs are soon in place, providing better-coordinated, more patient-centered care for millions of patients and giving us all a way to get better value for our health care dollars. view resource
A Model For Integrating Independent Physicians Into Accountable Care Organizations	Health Affairs	Martin Manning , Lee Sacks , Mark Shields , Pankaj Patel	2011-01-01
This article describes how Advocate Physician Partners in Illinois overcame various challenges to widespread ACO adoption, including dominance of small physician practices, traditional hospital medical staff structures, fee-for-service reimbursement, and private-sector acceptance. view resource
Accountable Care Organizations: Accountable for What, to Whom, and How	Journal of the American Medical Association	Elliott Fisher , Stephen Shortell	2010-10-20
This commentary argues that the success of ACOs will depend in large part on whether public and private stakeholders can work together to establish a performance measurement and evaluation framework that ensures accountability and supports rapid learning. Potential ACO tiers are also discussed. view resource
How The Center For Medicare And Medicaid Innovation Should Test Accountable Care Organizations	Health Affairs	Elliott Fisher , Stephen Shortell , Lawrence Casalino	2010-07-14
The authors propose that CMS allow flexibility and tiers in ACOs based on their specific circumstances and implement a system to learn from ACOs. Key steps would include setting performance goals, developing skills and tools that facilitate change, establishing measurement and accountability mechanisms, and supporting leadership development. view resource
A National Strategy To Put Accountable Care Into Practice	Health Affairs	Mark McClellan , Joachim Roski , Aaron McKethan , Julie Lewis , Elliott Fisher	2010-05-01
This article defines the core principles of ACOs and proposes a tiered framework to support ACO evolution over time. Steps to overcome barriers to effective implementation, including national leadership, consistent specifications, technical support, support for clinical transformation, ongoing evaluation, and improved antitrust monitoring, are discussed. view resource
Fostering Accountable Health Care: Moving Forward In Medicare	Health Affairs	Mark McClellan , Julie Lewis , Elliott Fisher , Steven Lieberman , Julie Lee , Jonathan Skinner	2009-01-27
This article outlines key principles to guide payment reform and presents a payment reform proposal for Medicare designed to foster the development of ACOs. The authors show that significant Medicare savings are possible through ACOs and discuss implementation and other challenges that must be addressed as policy efforts are aligned to support greater accountability. view resource

The above compilation of resources focuses on contributions from Brookings and Dartmouth scholars towards advancing accountable care. We have compiled a more comprehensive list of resources from across the academic, clinical, and policy communities for our Learning Network members. Join Now