ACO: The Narrative Unfolds (Consumer v. Provider?)

This is an abstract of the article posted on KHN News titled: ‘ACO Defenders Emerge As Comment Period Ends‘. Editors note: now the conversation begins in earnest. The bottom-line question seems to be ‘how much GDP do they need’? Meanwhile, in other health law implementation news, timing issues related to Department of Health and Human Services …

Campaign for Better Care Supports ACO Proposed Rule

By Diana Manos, Senior Editor, Healthcare IT News Leaders of the Campaign for Better Care (CBC), a broad-based coalition of consumer organizations, said they will comment on the proposed ACO rule on Monday, commending the federal government for putting patients first. The ACO proposed rule was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services …

ACO Industry Stakeholder ‘Outrage’ | Theatrics or Substance?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Re-framed title: ‘CMS, ACO’s and ‘The Grapes of [special interests] Wrath?’ In the United States of Amnesia (“USA”), we seem to be drawn to a regular if not somewhat addictive ‘blame game’ pastime.  Watching the post ACO Notice of Proposed Rule release commentary, and subsequent update by CMS announcing the …

The ‘ACO Sentiment Index’: A Tipping Point In Sight?

It’s been some 47 days (and counting) since CMS released the Notice of Proposed Rule on Accountable Care Organizations. Initial reaction was somewhat subdued, given its inherent complexity. Yet recently it seems CMS’s likely surviving allies may be patient advocates, Medicare beneficiaries and the patchwork of provider culture associated with Federal program funding, as well …

Vince Kuraitis: ‘Is Hospital-Physician Integration Sustainable?’

On the Wednesday May 11th 2011 broadcast, at 11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern, consultant, blogger, noted speaker, and soon to be published author, Vince Kuraitis is my special commentator on the always ‘tender’ subject of physician/hospital alignment. Given the current scramble to position traditionally independent, siloed or discontinuous provider relationships into a coordinated tapestry of ‘accountable care’ …

Top Pick’s in the ‘ACO Tool Shed’

Since CMS released the NPRM in March 2011, we’ve witnessed a veritable onslaught of client briefings, and analysis pieces on Accountable Care Organizations and the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The ‘buzz’ is intense as we play out the comment period. There is so much quality information readily available via Twitter, we thought it would be …

Editor’s Note on #ACOchat

We missed our #ACOchat today due to other commitments and a full schedule. Our intention is for the ‘TweetChat to run on a weekly basis, with Tuesday at 3PM Eastern/12 Noon Pacific time as the preferred slot on the calendar. Though until we reach some community consensus or affirmation of the day, and time chosen, can …

First ACOchat ‘In The Can’

On Tuesday, April 27th, with the able support and leadership of Mark Browne, MD, aka @consultdoc we experienced the first TweetChat focused on the Accountable Care Organization niche. Many of our community members joined in and created a rich conversational stream around the three topics (T1, T2 & T3) generated for the moderated conversation, which …

ACO Watch: A Mid-Week Review with Michael L. Millenson

On the Thursday, April 28th 2011 program at 11AM Pacific and 2PM Eastern, my guest commentator for an encore appearance is thought leader, author, blogger, lecturer and consultant on health care quality Michael L. Millenson. We’ll discuss his piece: ‘ACO Fairy Tale Faces a Rumpelstiltskin Moment‘ and more. Millenson is president of Health Quality Advisors …

ACO and Medicare Shared Savings CMS Listening Session | Region 10

CMS in its continuing commitment to be present and engage healthcare stakeholder voices in the complex challenge to re-engineer the complex and somewhat change resistant ‘healthcare borg’ (disclosure: editors words, not CMS) will hold another listening session on Thursday, April 28, 2011 from 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM (PT). To register for the event via …