ACOs in Action

A number of ACOs have taken traction in North Carolina, with their experiences and learning processes providing a good foundation on which to build future value-driven organizations. Below are some of the trail-blazing ACOs that have kindly shared their successes, missteps, and advice:

• Coastal Carolina Health Care

  • CCHC is based in New Bern and is comprised of 50-plus providers with 60 percent specializing in primary care. They operate out of 11 locations and their other specialties include cardiology, gastroenterology, pulmonary/critical care, hematology/oncology, and neurology. They have an integrated electronic health record (EHR) system and all of their clinicians have met the requirements to be deemed “meaningful users”. CCHC launched its ACO, Coastal Carolina Quality Care, Inc., in 2012.

• Community Care of North Carolina’s Child Health Accountable Care Collaborative (CHACC)

  • The CHACC program is an effort to improve care for children with complex medical conditions through close cooperation between North Carolina hospitals, primary care providers and subspecialists. Central to CHACCs success is a pioneering partnership between CCNC, all five of the state’s academic medical centers in the state and seven tertiary care hospitals.

• Cornerstone Health Care

  • With 367 providers, Cornerstone is one of the fastest growing physician groups in the southeast. It is a physician-owned and led multi-disciplinary practice with over 85 locations in communities throughout central North Carolina.

• Duke Connected Care

  • A community-based, physician-led network of practices including the Duke University Health System was born in 2014. This is Duke’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO).
• Key Physicians
• Comprised of more than 220 independent physicians in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties, Key Physicians has been evolving over the last four years from a traditional Independent Physician Association (IPA) to an accountable care organization (ACO) model.

• Triad HealthCare Network

  • Triad HealthCare Network is a provider-led collaboration between community physicians and Cone Health organized to improve healthcare in Greensboro and the greater Piedmont Triad area. THN was the only ACO in North Carolina to exceed the threshold to achieve shared savings for the latest financial report from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in February 2014.

• Western NC Pediatric Collaborative

  • The Western North Carolina Pediatric Collaborative is not an accountable care organization, but the Collaborative’s story serves as an example of how an ACO could develop organically when a group of doctors and community health providers come together to reap the benefits of collaboration and accountability to their patients and their community.

• Wilmington Health

  • Wilmington Health is a physician-owned, multispecialty group practice with more than 160 providers. The practice, which has been providing health care to the Wilmington region for more than 40 years, began its transformation to value-based care about five years ago.