New findings from a Dartmouth-led study, published in the February issue of Health Affairs, show that despite effort and attention on the part of some healthcare providers to better address their patients’ social needs, little progress is being made to integrate social services with medical care.
New research from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, published this week in JAMA Network Open, finds that Accountable Care Organization (ACO)-reported care management and coordination activities were not associated with improved outcomes or lower spending for patients with complex needs.
Findings from a new study conducted by a team of researchers at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and published in the July issue of Health Affairs, shows that while the number and variety of contracts held by ACOs have increased dramatically in recent years, the proportion of those bearing downside risk has seen only modest growth.
Findings from a Dartmouth study, led by Taressa Fraze, PhD, offer new details about how Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are using home visits to improve care management and identify patient needs while aiming to reduce costs. The study was part of a broader research effort at Dartmouth focused on how ACOs care for patients with complex clinical and social needs.
Until recently, little has been known about the effect of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations on overall spending, and whether they have been able to reduce the use of high-cost care settings. A new Dartmouth Institute study led by Carrie Colla finds that Medicare ACOs are making modest, yet increasing gains in these areas, particularly when it comes to treating patients with multiple conditions who are responsible for the greatest proportion of spending.
Health Affairs Blog – References a policy objective for ACOs proposed in Health Affairs in 2007 by Elliott Fisher, director and professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and professor of medicine, and community and family medicine, and colleagues from Dartmouth. The policy objective focused on reducing variation in Medicare shared savings rather than containing costs.
Health Affairs Blog – A blog post written by Carrie Colla, assistant professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel; Elliott Fisher, director and professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel; Scott Heiser, policy analyst; and Emily Tierny, health policy fellow. In the post, they examine the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ recent changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and accountable care organization’s (ACO) concerns about how the financial targets, which determine whether an ACO is successful at saving or guilty of overspending, are determined under the new requirements.
Modern Healthcare – In this article, James Weinstein, CEO of Dartmouth-Hitchcock and professor of orthopaedics, the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and community and family medicine at Geisel, and William Weeks, professor of psychiatry, community and family medicine, and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel, discuss how Dartmouth-Hitchcock and other leading academic health systems in Medicare’s Pioneer accountable care organization program face a payment conundrum.
In spite of early concerns that hospitals’ economic strengths would lead them to dominate the formation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), a new study reveals the central role of physician leadership in the first wave of ACOs.
Upcoming EventsThis page may link to PDF files. Use this link to download Adobe Reader if needed.