An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is a group of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers who come together voluntarily to give coordinated, high quality, patient-centered care to their Medicare patients.
- The goal is to ensure patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding duplication of services and preventing medical errors.
- Better patient outcomes require and encourage clinician teamwork and coordination across the continuum of care. Providers work with patients to ensure their healthcare decisions reflect the patient's preferences.
- ACOs are rewarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for lowering healthcare costs while meeting quality performance standards.
The Connected Care ACOs, including Connected Care of Middle Tennessee, participate in the CMS Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). Each ACO is committed to data driven interventions that contribute to better patient outcomes and shared savings, including:
- Quality Metrics
- Complex Care Support (behavioral health, pharmacy, social work)
- Transitions of Care
- Performance Improvement (EHR optimization, quality metric standardization, coding)
- Post Acute Strategy
- Annual Wellness Visits
An ACO is not a Medicare Advantage Plan or HMO and do not limit benefits for Medicare patients.