About the Publisher:
Clive Riddle, is Publisher of Accountable Care News. Mr. Riddle is a 25+ year veteran in the health care industry, and is President of MCOL (www.mcol.com), the health care business information company. Prior to forming MCOL in 1995, Mr. Riddle served as CEO for a regional provider sponsored health plan for more than a decade. Mr. Riddle is based in Modesto, CA.
About Accountable Care Organizations:
ACOs are provider collaborations that support the integration of groups of physicians, hospitals, and other providers in different ways around the opportunity to receive additional payments by achieving continually advancing patient-focused quality targets and demonstrating real reductions in overall spending growth for their defined patient population. The ACO model is highly flexible and can be organized in a number of ways - ranging from fully integrated delivery systems to networked models within which physicians in small office practices can work effectively together to improve quality, coordinate care and reduce costs. They can also feature different payment incentives ranging from "one-sided" shared savings within a fee-for-service environment, to a range of limited or substantial capitation arrangements with quality bonuses.
ACOs provide a mechanism to transition from paying for volume and intensity to paying for value. They are compatible with a range of other payment reforms to improve quality, such as medical homes and bundled payments; they can help assure that these reforms lead to sustainable quality improvements and cost reductions.
