Many observers still wonder whether the Supreme Court will squash key provisions of the Affordable Care Act later this year. But the fact is that right now critical elements of healthcare reform are unfolding quickly. And health IT CIOs are painfully aware that many of these elements require fast action by their departments.
Accountable care organizations–groups of hospitals, doctor practices and other healthcare providers working together to deliver coordinated patient care– are the buzz words in healthcare reform. ACOs, which are already sprouting up across the country, involve new payment models that replace traditional fee-for-service with bundled, shared savings and population-based payments, and require intense focus on quality, performance, patient outcomes, and reduced costs.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in December named 32 Pioneer ACOs to essentially be guinea pigs in testing these new models. But while there’s still a lot of work that these early adopters need to do as they transform into new ACOs, many of the healthcare providers picked for the CMS Pioneer program are already leaders in IT.
“The Pioneer ACO Model was designed specifically for organizations with experience offering coordinated, patient-centered care, and operating in ACO-like arrangements,” said CMS in a statement. “The selected organizations were chosen for their significant experience offering this type of quality care to their patients, along with other criteria,” said CMS.
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Among the requirements: “By the end of 2012, Pioneer ACOs must attest and CMS will confirm that at least 50% of the ACO’s primary care providers have met requirements for meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) for receipt of payments through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs,” according to CMS.
Some of the chosen Pioneer ACOs, including Boston-based Partners Healthcare and Beth Israel Deaconess, and Sharp Healthcare of San Diego, are already well-known in national health IT circles for their innovation and early adoption of e-health record systems, and computerized physician order entry.
via Healthcare Reform Is Here, Like It Or Not – Healthcare – Policy & Regulation – Informationweek.