Mark Lutes, a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, cowrote an article titled "The 'Missing Link' in ACOs: Patients."

Here is an excerpt:

In 2009, researchers reported the discovery of "Darwinius masillae," a small lemur-like creature that lived some 47 million years ago. Many paleontologists have postulated that D. masillae was the missing link, marking the point at which the evolutionary lineage of humans diverged from that of more distant primates.

It seems to us that, in the recent debate about accountable care organizations, one could also detect a missing link.

Regulations will soon be released providing insight into how health care entities and networks qualifying as ACOs will be compensated by Medicare for "bending the cost curve" and improving care. It's commonly held that these systems will lead to better treatment for individuals, improved population-wide health and lower costs.

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