Accountable Communities of Health, Health and Social Service Systems Alignment, and Population Health: Eastern Washington State, 2017-2019.

Objectives. To assess health system transformation and alignment in the Better Health Together (BHT) accountable community of health (ACH) region of Eastern Washington.Methods. This trend study leveraged cross-sectional data collected in 2017 and 2019 in Eastern Washington. A total of 165 responses from individuals representing 112 organizations were collected in 2017, and 211 responses from individuals representing 92 organizations were collected in 2019. More than one third (38%; n = 35 organizations) of cases overlapped between the 2 samples. Implementation of the ACH model is the exposure. Outcomes of interest included indicators of system transformation and alignment.Results. Organizations throughout BHT's region became more engaged, less siloed, and better connected from 2017 to 2019. At least some of the increased connectivity observed was directly attributable to the role BHT played in facilitating the creation or maintenance of interorganizational relationships across Eastern Washington.Conclusions. The ACH model is a promising approach to aligning health and social service systems for population health improvement. Evidence shows that ACH organizations can serve as trusted conveners able to facilitate interorganizational relationships across sectors.

Transformation of the Doctor-Patient Relationship: Big Data, Accountable Care, and Predictive Health Analytics.

The medical profession is steeped in traditions that guide its practice. These traditions were developed to preserve the well-being of patients. Transformations in science, technology, and society, while maintaining a self-governance structure that drives the goal of care provision, have remained hallmarks of the profession. The purpose of this paper is to examine ethical challenges in health care as it relates to Big Data, Accountable Care Organizations, and Health Care Predictive Analytics using the principles of biomedical ethics laid out by Beauchamp and Childress (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice). Among these are the use of Electronic Health Records within stipulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Clinicians are well-positioned to impact health policy development to address ethical issues associated with the use of Big Data, Accountable Care, and Health Care Predictive Analytics as we work to transform the doctor-patient relationship towards improving population health outcomes and creating a healthier society.

Do Changes in Post-acute Care Use at Hospitals Participating in an Accountable Care Organization Spillover to All Medicare Beneficiaries?

BACKGROUND: While early evidence suggests that Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) may reduce post-acute care (PAC) utilization for attributed beneficiaries, whether these effects spill over to all beneficiaries admitted to hospitals participating in ACOs stray is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in PAC use and Medicare spending spill over to all beneficiaries admitted to hospitals participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). DESIGN: Observational study using a difference-in-differences design comparing changes in PAC utilization and spending among beneficiaries admitted to ACO-participating hospitals before and after the start of the ACO contracts, compared to those admitted to non-ACO hospitals. SETTING: A total of 233 hospitals participate in MSSP ACOs and 3103 non-ACO hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: A national sample of 11,683,573 Medicare beneficiaries experiencing 26,503,086 hospital admissions from 2010 to 2013. EXPOSURE: Admission to a hospital participating in an MSSP ACO. MAIN MEASURES: The probability of discharge and Medicare payments to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF), skilled nursing facilities (SNF), and home health agencies (HHA). KEY RESULTS: For beneficiaries admitted to hospitals that joined an ACO, the likelihood of being discharged to PAC did not change after the hospital joined the ACO compared with non-ACO hospitals over the same period (differential change in probability of discharge to any PAC was 0.000 (P = 0.89), SNF was 0.000 (P = 0.73), IRF was 0.000 (P = 0.96), and HHA was 0.001 (P = 0.57)). Payments reduced significantly for PAC overall (- $130.41, P = 0.03), but not for any individual PAC type alone. These results were consistent in samples that were conditional on discharge to any PAC, across conditions with high PAC use nationally, and among ACO-participating hospitals that also had a PAC participant. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital participation in an ACO did not result in spillovers in PAC utilization or payments to all beneficiaries, even when considering high PAC-use conditions and ACO hospitals that also have an ACO-participating PAC.

Current State of Value-Based Purchasing Programs.

The US healthcare system is rapidly moving toward rewarding value. Recent legislation, such as the Affordable Care Act and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, solidified the role of value-based payment in Medicare. Many private insurers are following Medicare's lead. Much of the policy attention has been on programs such as accountable care organizations and bundled payments; yet, value-based purchasing (VBP) or pay-for-performance, defined as providers being paid fee-for-service with payment adjustments up or down based on value metrics, remains a core element of value payment in Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. This review article summarizes the current state of VBP programs and provides analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for the future. Multiple inpatient and outpatient VBP programs have been implemented and evaluated; the impact of those programs has been marginal. Opportunities to enhance the performance of VBP programs include improving the quality measurement science, strengthening both the size and design of incentives, reducing health disparities, establishing broad outcome measurement, choosing appropriate comparison targets, and determining the optimal role of VBP relative to alternative payment models. VBP programs will play a significant role in healthcare delivery for years to come, and they serve as an opportunity for providers to build the infrastructure needed for value-oriented care.

Medicaid ACOs: Innovation Follows the Brave.

Applying the ACO framework to Medicaid runs head on into a stubborn challenge: the disproportionate impact of socioeconomic factors on health in the Medicaid population. Poor health outcomes in low-income populations are often exacerbated by unstable employment and housing, transportation difficulties, and lack of access to nutritious food.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: opportunities for prevention and public health.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was enacted by the US Congress in 2010, marks the greatest change in US health policy since the 1960s. The law is intended to address fundamental problems within the US health system, including the high and rising cost of care, inadequate access to health insurance and health services for many Americans, and low health-care efficiency and quality. By 2019, the law will bring health coverage--and the health benefits of insurance--to an estimated 25 million more Americans. It has already restrained discriminatory insurance practices, made coverage more affordable, and realised new provisions to curb costs (including tests of new health-care delivery models). The new law establishes the first National Prevention Strategy, adds substantial new funding for prevention and public health programmes, and promotes the use of recommended clinical preventive services and other measures, and thus represents a major opportunity for prevention and public health. The law also provides impetus for greater collaboration between the US health-care and public health systems, which have traditionally operated separately with little interaction. Taken together, the various effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act can advance the health of the US population.

The Benefit Aftereffects of ACA--Accelerating Toward a New Health Economy.

While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) focused largely on improving access to health care coverage for the uninsured, its broader and longer-term influence may have been its impact on accelerating key trends and strategies that major employers and other stakeholders have been targeting for years. This article looks at some of these trends, where we were pre-ACA and how ACA (through benefit mandates, shared responsibility penalties, Cadillac plan tax, health information technology, accountable care organizations, etc.) has helped to accelerate and refocus efforts. In addition, the public exchange paradigm has given rise to a private exchange movement that is helping further accelerate the transformation of the New Health Economy.

The widening U.S. health care crisis three years after the passage of 'Obamacare'.

This report presents information on the state of the U.S. health system in 2012 and early 2013, specifically the period prior to the implementation of the individual mandate and full rollout of the Affordable Care Act's online health exchanges. The authors include data on the uninsured and underinsured and their access to health care, on socioeconomic inequality in health care, the rising costs of the U.S. health system, and the role of corporate money in health care, with special reference to the pharmaceutical industry. They also provide updates on Medicare health maintenance organizations, Medicaid, and a prelude to the complete implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the authors include some results from public opinion polls on health systems and international system comparisons. The article concludes with an assessment of the rapid consolidation in the delivery of health care being driven by the Affordable Care Act.

Development of a culture of sustainability in health care organizations.

PURPOSE: This paper aims to examine the concept of sustainability in health care organizations and the key managerial competencies and change management strategies needed to implant a culture of sustainability. Competencies and management development strategies needed to engrain this corporate culture of sustainability are analyzed in this document. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This paper draws on the experience of the authors as health care executives and educators developing managerial competencies with interdisciplinary and international groups of executives in the last 25 years, using direct observation, interviews, discussions and bibliographic evidence. FINDINGS: With a holistic framework for sustainability, health care managers can implement strategies for multidisciplinary teams to respond to the constant change, fine-tune operations and successfully manage quality of care. Managers can mentor students and provide in-service learning experiences that integrate knowledge, skills, and abilities. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Further empirical research needs to be conducted on these interrelated innovative topics. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Health care organizations around the world are under stakeholders' pressure to provide high quality, cost-effective, accessible and sustainable services. Professional organizations and health care providers can collaborate with university graduate health management education programs to prepare competent managers in all the dimensions of sustainability. SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: The newly designated accountable care organizations represent an opportunity for managers to address the need for sustainability. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Sustainability of health care organizations with the holistic approach discussed in this paper is an innovative and practical approach to quality improvement that merits further development.

Redesigning healthcare. New delivery initiatives include ACOs, walk-in clinics, medical homes.

The CMS' laboratory for revamping the healthcare delivery system doesn't expect to produce policy changes for two more years. That has left lawmakers impatient for results. "Of course, we're all eager to see the results of these models, but we need to be realistic; this change is difficult," says Dr. Richard Gilfillan, left, director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.

Diabetes: the right care and the right reimbursement.

Managing patients with diabetes or other chronic diseases is suddenly a major focus for hospitals. They're working with insurers to develop fair, effective reimbursement models.

Accountable care organizations and ESRD: the time has come.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a newly proposed vehicle for improving or maintaining high-quality patient care while controlling costs. They are meant to achieve the goals of the Medicare Shared Savings Program mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010. ACOs are voluntary groups of hospitals, physicians, and health care teams that provide care for a defined group of Medicare beneficiaries and assume responsibility for providing high-quality care through defined quality measures at a cost below what would have been expected. If an ACO succeeds in achieving both the quality measures and reduced costs, the ACO will share in Medicare's cost savings. Health care for patients with end-stage renal disease is complex due to multiple patient comorbid conditions, expensive, and often poorly coordinated. Due to the unique needs of patients with end-stage renal disease receiving dialysis, ACOs may be unable to provide the highly specialized quality care these patients require. We discuss the benefits and risks of a renal-focused ACO for dialysis patients, as well as the kidney community's prior experience with an ACO-like demonstration project.

From HMOs to ACOs: the quest for the Holy Grail in U.S. health policy.

The United States has been singularly unsuccessful at controlling health care spending. During the past four decades, American policymakers and analysts have embraced an ever changing array of panaceas to control costs, including managed care, consumer-directed health care, and most recently, delivery system reform and value-based purchasing. Past panaceas have gone through a cycle of excessive hope followed by disappointment at their failure to rein in medical care spending. We argue that accountable care organizations, medical homes, and similar ideas in vogue today could repeat this pattern. We explain why the United States persistently pursues health policy fads--despite their poor record--and how the promotion of panaceas obscures critical debate about controlling health care costs. Americans spend too much time on the quest for the "holy grail"--a reform that will decisively curtail spending while simultaneously improving quality of care--and too little time learning from the experiences of others. Reliable cost control does not, contrary to conventional wisdom, require fundamental delivery system reform or an end to fee-for-service payment. It does require the U.S. to emulate the lessons of other nations that have been more successful at limiting spending through budgeting, system wide fee schedules, and concentrated purchasing.

Accountable care organizations: back to the future?

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are networks of providers that assume risk for the quality and total cost of the care they deliver. Public policymakers and private insurers hope that ACOs will achieve the elusive "triple aim" of improving quality of care, improving population health, and reducing costs. The model is still evolving, but the premise is that ACOs will accomplish these aims by coordinating care, managing chronic disease, and aligning financial incentives for hospitals and physicians. If this sounds familiar, it may be because the integrated care networks of the 1990s tried some of the same things, and mostly failed in their attempts. This Issue Brief summarizes the similarities and differences between the new ACOs and the integrated delivery networks of the 1990s, and presents the authors' analysis of the likely success of these new organizations in affecting the costs and quality of health care.

Achieving accountability for health and health care.

There is no well-established mechanism at the local level to discuss or manage the balance of investments in health care and the other social determinants of health. We propose the development of voluntary regional organizations and/or use of current organizations to work with stakeholders of the health system to 1) review local data on health, experience and quality of care, and costs of care (Triple Aim); 2) create shared goals, actions and investments to meet the Triple Aim; and 3) involve citizens in local delivery system reform and stewardship of financial resources. These accountable health communities (AHCos) would contribute to co-creating a sustainable health system.

Tips for medical practice success in the upcoming accountable care era.

Due to the unsustainable cost of healthcare, the movement to accountable care will be inevitable. This author predicts that recent Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO) regulations will energize ACO development. There are specific practical strategies every medical practice leader should know in order to navigate this new healthcare environment successfully. There is a window of opportunity, which will not stay open long, to control a medical practice's destiny in molding a fair, sustainable, and successful ACO. Not being prepared and defaulting to the status quo through passivity is also a choice that promises more work for less compensation for medical practices. The choice is clear, and the blueprint for success is available.

The inexorable march toward accountable care.

Although they got off to a slow start, Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) are being viewed more favorably as a result of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's promotion of the Pioneer ACO pilot. Commercial ACOs are successfully reducing costs and improving health outcomes. Because of the early positive results of pilot programs, ACOs are expected to increase in the years ahead.

Marriage of convenience. As they adapt to reform, insurers court historic adversaries: physician practices.

As reform's changes continue to ripple through the marketplace, insurers are moving to buy physician practices. Why would docs agree to such deals? Some who've made the move say they see it as a strategic decision. "We wanted to partner with a player with lots of market share and lots of markets. We were little and we were in need of a bigger playground to play in," says Alan Hoops, left, of CareMore.