Accountable Care Organizations: The Key to More Coordinated Care?

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of providers that assume financial risk for the care of defined populations. ACOs have been proposed as a means to control the soaring costs of care while simultaneously ensuring the quality and efficiency of that care. Although changes to payment and incentive arrangements are important for the success of ACOs, part of the promise of ACOs depends upon redesigning the way care is coordinated among providers through a variety of coordination mechanisms. In this symposium, we include four empirical papers that together explore how ACOs are attempting to coordinate care and assess the impacts of those coordination efforts on various organizational and patient outcomes. Following the presentations, Stephen Shortell, a prominent ACO researcher and thought leader, will serve as discussant, providing comments tying the four papers together, drawing out implications for research and practice, and leading an interactive group discussion. The Role of Care Coordination in the Performance of Accountable Care Organizations Presenter: Thomas D'Aunno; New York U. Presenter: Michael Sparer; Columbia U. Presenter: Lauren Broffman; Columbia U. Accountable Care and the Strategic Integration of Coordination Mechanisms Presenter: Brian Hilligoss; The Ohio State U. Presenter: Ann Scheck McAlearney; The Ohio State U. Presenter: Paula H. Song; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Patients’ Perspectives on Care Integration Presenter: Sara J. Singer; Harvard U. Presenter: Michaela Kerrissey; Harvard U. Presenter: Ashley-Kay Fryer; Harvard U. Presenter: Jonathan Clark; Pennsylvania State U. Presenter: Maryaline Catillon; Harvard U. Presenter: Wei Jiang; Harvard U. Presenter: Stephen M Shortell; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Larry P Casalino; Cornell U. Presenter: Mark Friedberg; RAND Corporation Using Health Information Technology in Accountable Care Organizations for Care Management Presenter: Frances M Wu; VA Palo Alto Health Care System Presenter: Stephen M Shortell; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Thomas Rundall; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Joan R Bloom; U. of California, Berkeley