The goals behind Accountable Care Organizations might be admirable, but the model is proving tough to implement, according to the findings of a new survey by Premier. The August survey of 115 hospital executives across 35 states, nearly half of them CEOs, indicates that only 23 percent are likely to implement one this year. More than 50 percent of hospital executives surveyed in the spring of 2012 said they expected to participate in an ACO by the end of 2013,
The outlook for 2014 is expected to improve, with nearly 50 percent of respondents projecting they will participate in an ACO by the end of next year. In the meantime, partnerships with insurance companies are a growing trend as a way to improve population management care.
In a conference call about the survey, Joe Damore, the vice president of population health with Premier, referred to them as population health organizations. These partnerships between hospitals and public or private payers embrace a few different care models. One of the goals is to bring down healthcare costs and improve outcomes for people with chronic conditions, particularly patients with multiple chronic conditions.
Payers can reward improvements to health and reduced use of healthcare services through shared saving payments or by paying for interventions that positively affect health. Some examples include care management, patient portals and other services that are not traditionally reimbursed.
Transparency is critical to helping providers better manage patient costs across departments. More than 70 percent of respondents are integrating claims data and clinical data. Half are using predictive analytics to forecast patient population needs. Another 46 percent are using an integrated data solution to reduce silos.
About 46 percent of respondents said they are collaborating with private payers. Another 40 percent said they were partnering with public payers such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Upside-only shared savings (58 percent) and bundled payments (52 percent) are the two most common models for these partnerships. Only 28 percent have embraced capitation, according to a white paper that accompanied the survey.
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