Covisint Details the Benefits of a Performance-based Approach for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

Covisint Details the Benefits of a Performance-based Approach for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

October 9, 2011

The whitepaper titled: "Performance-Based Care for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)" details how ACOs can achieve long-term sustainability. The whitepaper describes how ACOs can enable coordination across the continuum of care and improve the overall health of an ACO's patients and the broader population. A free copy of the whitepaper is available at http://bit.ly/mYqTJG.

The whitepaper identifies key components of a performance-based approach: secure, reliable data exchange; point-of-care decision support; a path for physicians to achieve meaningful use; scalability that allows providers to utilize their existing technology; robust analytics and reporting; and the ability to aggregate and organize data from a myriad of sources.

The Covisint paper shows how performance-based ACOs will help overcome the thorny problems of:

Connecting healthcare "data islands." To provide access to patient-centric data, quality reporting and improved workflow, it is essential to securely and automatically integrate previously "siloed" data. This integration identifies and drives improvements and efficiencies not just in the organization, but also throughout the community.
Enabling physicians to demonstrate "Meaningful Use." Half of the primary care physicians (PCPs) participating in ACOs must soon be meaningful users of EHRs, yet only 13 percent had a basic or functional EHR in 2008. Even with increased adoption spurred by federal incentives, many practices still haven't fully converted to EHRs.
Capturing, analyzing and reporting data externally. Though many approaches to health information exchange (HIE) now exist, access to secure and scalable communication is not enough to ensure an ACO will succeed. In addition to meeting the transparency requirements set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), ACOs will likely need to provide performance reports to regional insurers, accrediting agencies, regulators and employers demanding to know how they keep patients healthy and contain rising health costs.

Aggregating and organizing data from myriad sources is essential to deliver truly coordinated care, but the Covisint whitepaper cautions that data alone won't guarantee the viability of ACOs. To achieve long-term sustainability, and to optimize the financial benefits for participating providers, an ACO must capture and convert data into actionable information that can securely exchanged. Only then can CMS' three-part aim for ACOs--better care for individuals, better health for populations and lower growth in expenditures--be fully realized.

"ACOs are pioneering fundamental changes in coordinated care by aligning the interests of all stakeholders with a patient-centric focus," said Brett Furst, Covisint Vice President of Healthcare. "To achieve long-term success, ACOs need an affordable, user-friendly technology platform that offers scalability and interoperability. By enabling seamless access to patient information at the point of care, Covisint's secure, cloud-based platform provides the flexibility and functionality needed to help hospitals and physician practices navigate the challenging market and regulatory forces they face."

Covisint drives care coordination with its performance-based care solution--a trusted healthcare platform that delivers actionable information at the point of care and manages secure communications across care communities. By enabling patient information to be harnessed, measured and securely shared at individual and population levels, performance-based care facilitates health IT at all stages--from the most sophisticated HIE down to paper-based single providers. Benefits include improved care outcomes, lowered administrative costs, improved patient safety and communication among care teams, reduced avoidable readmissions and the improved ability to manage chronic conditions.