Evaluation Plan for Accountable Care Organization Formation

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University Hospitals: creating the infrastructure for quality and value through accountable care. Academic Journal (English) By: Zenty TF 3rd; Bieber EJ; Hammack ER, Frontiers Of Health Services Management [Front Health Serv Manage], ISSN: 0748-8157, 2014 Summer; Vol. 30 (4), pp. 21-33;

In response to health care reform, several competing hospitals are starting to form ACSs to participate in new payment models designed to reduce costs and improve population health. The Board of directors for your hospital has requested that you lead the development of an evaluation plan to assess the potential impact of ACO formation. In particular, the board wants to understand how the ACO will align with the organization's strategy and what information will be required to assess the impact of the ACO on your organization's performance. Describe the measures & methods you would use for the evaluation plan, & explain why would use them. Be sure to include what type of data you need to collect and a definition of the metrics you would use. Purpose & develop a timeline for the implementation & evaluation plan for the scenario described. Be sure to highlight any challenges or opportunities in regard to adhering to the proposed timeline you develop. Suggest additional strategies you might recommend to ensure the implementation & evaluation plans are completed on time.

When constructing the strategy for ACO formation, there are necessary issues that must be included within any ACO formation, and these include the primary issues that revolve around developing a culture of quality, the clear and unequivocal ability to define the role that governance will play within the healthcare organizations ACO, and the structure that will facilitate and support coordinated care within the ACO. The Affordable Care Act, which is in serious jeopardy of being repealed and no longer being a staple of American healthcare, mandates that healthcare outcomes must notably improve within the healthcare organizations. There are incentives for achieving the noted benchmarks, and these incentives have been crucial for ACO formation wherein one of the primary objectives used for the evaluation plan would be the ability for the hospital to obtain significant recognition for quality success, which would come in the form of national and regional rewards for healthcare excellency.

This approach is significant because it raises the profile of the hospital but also establishes a culture of excellence in regard to the delivery of healthcare, which engages the necessary stakeholders throughout the ACO formation process such as doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers along with healthcare administrators in upholding this culture. Employees who ascribe to the vision and mission of an organizational approach are more likely to engage in behavior that ensures the goals and objectives of the mission are reached, which is why this is an important variable.

The organization must be capable of determining whether the hospital has improved its quality of care, which requires quality control measures to be established and quality research to be conducted wherein the use of a Quality Institute to foster greater collaboration and communication throughout the healthcare system would be recommended as well as the development of roles such as a chief quality officer to assess the effectiveness of healthcare providers in regard to the quality of care ...