In this Health Affairs blog posting, two of the national thought leaders behind the concept of accountable care organizations, Brooking Institution’s Mark McClellan and Dartmouth’s Elliot Fisher, make their first comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ long-awaited proposed rule for Medicare shared savings accountable care organizations. McClellan and Fisher highlight some key implementation issues as stakeholders consider the proposed rule:
Finally, McClellan and Fisher note:
“As CMS and the public consider the proposed ACO regulation, it is important to recognize that more and more evidence on ACO and ACO-like payment models to support better care is emerging outside of Medicare. This is because a number of private plans and providers are implementing accountable care models ahead of regulations….as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has already shown in its patient-centered medical home pilots, multi-payer collaboration can provide much greater support for health care reform than actions by individual payers alone, even Medicare.”
It is anticipated that additional models – and funding – for such multi-payer and other types of accountable care organizations will be coming from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovations.
Ignatius Bau 