Are you too late for your local ACOs?

ACOs are popping up everywhere. Did you know? CMS is not the only organization driving them. In fact, the majority of ACOs in existence today are commercial ACOs not tied into CMS initiatives such as the Shared Savings Program. That says a couple of things:

1. That health care reform initiatives are growing beyond the bounds of Medicare. We all remember the days, I'm sure, when many protested, "Health care reform doesn't apply to me; I don't do enough Medicare to qualify for the stimulus funds."
2. That you can't follow only the CMS news for your region with regard to ACOs. You need to be following the hospital news as well. (See a good link below.)

Where does the rubber meet the road with ACOs? They're the organizations pulling health care providers into chronic care teams. Patient-centered medical homes are taking flight within ACOs. They're also the entities being reimbursed for team care and made responsible for provider payment.

But here's the real rub: if you're not already aware of the ACOs being organized in your area, not already talking to "the powers that be", you may have an uphill battle to be included. Get on this now. It's critical that eye care providers be involved in chronic care teams. I suppose the question is whether or not the ECP will always be a hospital-based ECP.

ACOs are taking over access to patients, including your patients. If you're not part of your local ACOs and their care teams, you will eventually struggle to retain your patients.

Below are two must-read articles on the topic of ACOs. See the CMS list of 27 ACOs and compare it against the other list of 80 ACOs. The lists show locations, so be sure to see which ones are in your back yard.

• CMS releases list of 27 ACOs
• 80 Accountable Care Organizations to Know

Also look here for that "hospital news" mentioned above. See especially the two articles (April 10 and April 12) on the Patient Centered Medical Home.

Alistair Jackson, M.Ed.