Accountable Care in the News

The Looming Threat of Liability for Accountable Care Organizations and What to Do About It, 6-17-13, JAMA

Prevention in Health Care: Reforming the Debate, 5-23-13, Huffington Post  

Stephen A. Brunton, M.D., FAAFP reports as the roll-out next year of the Affordable Care Act finally draws near the debate has shifted from the philosophical, moral and political implications of “Obamacare,” to a much more practical focus; how (if?) the implementation of reform will actually work, and how (if?) we will pay for it.

‘Care Guides’ Show another Face of Health Reform, 5-8-13, Star Tribune

Maura Lerner reports “care guides” are part of a fast-growing, and hotly debated, trend in medicine: Putting people with minimal (if any) medical expertise on the front lines — with titles like patient navigator or coach — to help improve care, and rein in the costs, of patients with chronic illnesses.

A Health Provider Strives to Keep Hospital Beds Empty, 4-23-13, NY Times

Author Annie Lowrey focuses on Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Ill., a pioneer in an approach known as “accountable care” that offers financial incentives for doctors and hospitals to cut costs rather than funnel patients through an ever-greater volume of costly medical services.

Push in the Right Direction, 3-30-13, Modern HealthCare

Melanie Evans reports more hospitals and doctors are signing accountable care contracts that tie payouts and sometimes penalties to delivering better results at lower costs. Some in the vanguard of that approach want to tweak insurance benefits to nudge patients toward choices that help them do it.

Value-Based Insurance Plans Gain Momentum, 3-26-13, Modern HealthCare 

Jonathan Block reports the movement among employers to push insurers to adopt health plan benefit designs that improve medical outcomes without raising costs is slowly gathering steam, according to an employer coalition pushing payment reform.

 The Real Promise of ‘Accountable Care’, 3-4-13, Wall Street Journal

An opinion piece by Elliott Fisher, Mark McClellan, and Stephen Shortell looks at the changing face of health care and how accountable care might thrive in the future.