Health Affairs Blog: Accountable Care Organizations

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are provider collaborations that integrate groups of physicians, hospitals, and other providers around the ability to receive shared-savings bonuses by achieving measured quality targets and demonstrating real reductions in overall spending growth for a defined population of patients. ACOs can be organized in a number of provider configurations with different payer participants. 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. Read More