Doug Hastings, Chair of the Firm's Board of Directors and a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the Washington, DC, office, discusses ACOs.
Following is an excerpt:
Now that 27 Medicare Shared Savings Program participants have been announced, bloggers for Health Affairs examined the state of accountable care organizations (ACOs). Turns out, the fun is just getting started.
Hastings noted that, finally, the industry has reached an apex of how clinical and financial integration go together. "Financial integration among providers involves: shared financial data and shared financial risk and reward; mutual dependency on financial outcomes; and aligned financial incentives," Hastings wrote on April 11. "Clinical integration among providers involves: shared clinical data and shared patient relationships; mutual dependency on clinical outcomes; and aligned clinical incentives. People debate the comparative meaning of the terms clinical integration, coordinated care and accountable care, among others. While all convey the importance of multi-provider collaboration, 'accountable care' to me best integrates the concepts of financial and clinical integration."