On Wednesday, Sept 8, 2010, the House and Senate held a joint hearing on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the state of Minnesota.  The Accountable Care Organization is a concept from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will create a voluntary program for Accountable Care Organizations by 2012.

ACOs are envisioned to be provider groups that accept responsibility for the cost and quality of care delivered to a specific population of patients by the group of clinicians.  Currently, the discussions are largely around the physician practices and focusing on patient centered medical homes.  However, some of the conversation is around payor sources like Medicare part A and B, and therefore could have implications for long-term care.  We will monitor these hearings and give periodic updates.

For more information on the Accountable Care Organizations and some of their potential features, you can look at a paper from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at:  http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/66449.pdf.

Toby Pearson
952.851.2480
tpearson@careproviders.org

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