ACO Digital Assets Available

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH It’s been quite some time that I’ve updated this site though not for a lack of news. Yet some 434 posts later following the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, the signature, and against all odds accomplishment of then President Barack Obama, I thought I’d update both subscribers and followers …

Need Another Acronym? Think ‘CHART’ Courtesy of ‘CMMI’

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH In a sea of relentless ‘acronym soup’ that peppers the landscape and too often separates us from the constituency we ostensibly serve (patients) via added layers of dubious complexity to the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare delivery and financing ecosystem, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has added the ‘Community …

Health Care ‘Texas Style’: A Model for the Nation?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH This a re-post of an article written in October 2009 following Atul Gawande‘s article in the New Yorker on the ‘cost conundrum‘ which launched his presence and eventual celebrity on the national stage. Gawande was calling attention to the regional variations (small area analysis) in the Medicare spend and associated …

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General: ACOs’ Strategies for Transitioning to Value-Based Care – Lessons From the Medicare Shared Savings Program

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH Many have suggested ACOs would not make a dent in restraining the growth of the U.S. healthcare spend, nor have a meaningful impact on elevating the quality of care provided to covered members or beneficiaries (patients). From ‘HMO-lite‘ criticism to a range of ‘tepid’ to no patient channeling mechanisms, recent …

The Evolution of ACOs

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH Recently the accountable care industry’s leading ‘skin in the game‘ PPMC 2.0 aka ‘ACOcor‘ equivalent (think PhyCor, MedPartners, FPA Medical, et al) of our time – though Aledade’s model is anything like the pyramid scheme of the PPMC (physician practice management companies) of the 1990s, reviewed the Center for Medicare and Medicaid …

National ACO Association Weighs In On Sector Performance

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH Amidst the aggressive assault on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) via an unrelenting but unsuccessful ‘repeal and replace‘ agenda, much conversation and debate in the health reform theater since Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States has witnessed considerable speculation about the probable directional vector(s) of reform. …

On ACOs and their ‘Stealth’ Upside via @Farzad_MD CEO @AledadeACO

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH For those of you not on twitter and not following the former National Coordinator for HealthIT and now co-founder and CEO of ACO ‘Management Company’ Aledade, Farzad Mostashari, MD, I’m pasting his rich thread on ACOs and the prospects for its near term future as a tool in the healthcare …

Founder and CEO of ACO Management Company Weighs in on Regulatory Uncertainty

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH It’s been a while since my last post. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. In California we’re dealing with very serious wildfire threat. Please hold space in your thoughts and prayers for all of those in harms way – especially the first responders putting their lives on the line …

The Road From Volume-To-Value: The Pivotal Role of Population Health

By Fred Goldstein, MS and Gregg Masters, MPH Two macro trends are converging to further season and ultimately catalyze the transformation of the American healthcare enterprise: the predominant fee-for-service model that fuels the provider ecosystem (hospitals, health systems, medical groups, IPAs, ACOs, or managed physician networks, etc.) and their ‘partner’ financing plans, payors or administrators. Ecosystem incumbents …

Leavitt Partners Weigh in on Medicare, APMs and Provider Readiness for Pivot

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH It’s been busy since our re-launch at This Week in Accountable Care primarily due to the heavy lifting support from National ACO co-founders, Andre Berger MD, CEO, and Alex Foxman, MD, President and Chief Medical Officer, respectively. While I moderate the series, Drs. Berger and Foxman serve as co-hosts and subject matter …