WASHINGTON—The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) has 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 healthcare 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 Jan. 1, 2012.
AMGA’s ACO Principles are:
1. Multispecialty Medical Groups and Other Organized Systems of Care Make the Strongest Foundation for ACOs
2. ACOs Must Be Physician-Led
3. ACOs Must Be Willing to Be Held Accountable for Clinical Results and Cost Efficiencies in the Communities Served
4. ACO Incentives Must Be Aligned to Foster Voluntary Participation
5. ACOs Must Have a Primary Care Core
6. 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.
The AMGA ACO Principles, approved by AMGA’s board of directors, were made public by Donald W. Fisher, PhD, AMGA’s president and CEO, 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.”
