The Premier healthcare alliance is launching two collaboratives designed to help hospital systems prepare and qualify to participate in accountable healthcare organizations (ACOs).
The ACO Implementation Collaborative and the ACO Readiness Collaborative will include 19 health systems in 15 states, involving 70 hospitals, more than 5,000 physicians and 1.2 million patients, according to Premier President and CEO Susan DeVore.
The development of ACOs is supported by the healthcare reform law and is one of the latest ideas for promoting efficient quality healthcare, said Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) at a press conference Thursday.
DeVore called the ACO movement "the next layer in healthcare."
Members of an ACO will commit to improving the collective quality of care of the patients in their systems, she said. The goal is accomplished by each organization transparently sharing healthcare data and using that data to set standards and incentives for top performance, she said.
"ACOs are a departure from the status quo and will be an ambitious goal for even the most advanced healthcare systems," DeVore said..
Doctors and hospitals have always been committed to improving health, she said. With ACOs, that focus will be expanded to improving an entire population's health.
Hospital systems participating in the ACOs will span urban and rural environments, treat different kinds of populations and address different kinds of needs, DeVore said.
"The ACO program is not designed as a demonstration, but as a real program," she added.
DeVore said Premier will be collaborating with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission as the ACOs develop.
"Ultimately, Medicare will be joining existing ACOs," she said.