The goal of Accountable Treatment Organizations (ACOs) is to offer clients well-coordinated, affordable care when they need it. The accountable care model places a strong emphasis on population health, value-driven results, the point of service where patient care is provided, protocols for efficient handoffs, and family involvement in decision-making (Weberg et al., 2020). Medicare enrollees receive coordinated treatment from the ACO at a reduced cost. The three goals of ACOs are to enhance patient care, enhance community health, and cut costs. Providers must always assure the best-coordinated care and services due to the direct link between payment for excellent care and improved patient outcomes and community health.
Less medical mistakes, better access to care, a decline in hospital readmissions, and the avoidance of duplicate services are all advantages of integrated care. ACOs focus on managing patients with chronic illnesses and providing high-quality care to enhance and sustain health in the population (CDC, n.d.). A pay-for-performance model holds ACOs responsible to patients and payers by dividing overall savings made when population-based performance goals are met through high-quality care, without compromising patient care or population health outcomes (Wilson et al., 2020). Due to the switch from volume-based to value-based care and the focus on population outcomes, policymakers have become more and more in favor of the ACO model (CDC, n.d.). ACOs will keep having a favorable influence on population health and outcomes, patient care, patient experiences, and patient outcomes.
Topic 6 DQ 1
Published
Assessment Description
In an accountable care organization (ACO), insurance companies are looking at how health care organizations care for a specific population. How do you think this impacts the health of the population?
Also Check Out: What type of staff performance indicators would you monitor to ensure you were meeting your budget?
KNOWLEDGE CHECK
Discuss why population health has become a significant focus of the US health care system. In your opinion, what model is the best option to meet population needs? Present rationale.
REPLY
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) aim to provide well-coordinated, cost-effective care when clients need it. The accountable care model emphasizes population care, value-driven outcomes, emphasis on the point of service at which patient care occurs, protocols for effective hand-offs, and inclusion of the family in decision making (Weberg et al., 2020). The ACO provides Medicare beneficiaries with coordinated care at lower costs. ACOs share the triple aim to improve care for the individual, improve population health, and reduce costs. With the direct link between payment for quality care, providers must ensure the best-coordinated care and services every time, thus improving patient outcomes and population health.
Benefits of coordinated care include less medical errors, improved access to care, reduction in hospital readmission, and prevention of duplicate services. ACOs aim to improve population health by providing high-quality care to improve and maintain health by focusing on prevention and managing chronically ill patients (CDC, n.d.). ACOs are held accountable to patients and payers through a pay-for-performance model where providers share overall savings when population-based performance standards are achieved through quality care, and the costs savings are not at the expense of patient care or population health outcomes (Wilson et al., 2020). Policymakers have increasingly advocated for the ACO model because of the shift from volume-based care to value-based care and the emphasis on population outcomes (CDC, n.d.). ACOs will continue to positively impact patient care, patient experiences, patient outcomes, and population health and outcomes.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
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Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- Student paper example
- Citing Sources
- The Writing Center is a great resource
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Partnering with ACOs for population health improvement- CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/pdfs/partnering-with-acos.pdf
Weberg, D., Mangold, K., Porter-O’Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2019). Leadership in nursing practice: changing the landscape of nursing practice. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN:9781284146530
Wilson. M., Guta, A., Waddell, J., Lavis, J., Reid, R., & Evans, C. (2020). The impacts of accountable care organizations on patient experience, health outcomes, and costs: a rapid review. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1355819620913141
