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Articles
Embracing Accountable Care: 5 Tips From Tucson Medical Center CEO Judy Rich 
CMS announced last month its anticipated list of the first 27 accountable care organizations selected for the Medicare Shared Saving Program. CEO Judy Rich of Tucson (Ariz.) Medical Center, the medical center in Arizona Connected Care, one of the 27 original CMS MSSP participants, shares five points for leaders who are either part of a newly formed ACO or looking to form one in the near future.
Consulting firms see big business in accountable health reform 
Optum's Accountable Care Solutions unit was recently featured in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Click here to view a reprint of this article.
Providers Seek Collaboration on All Sides
Arizona hospitals, doctors and insurers are looking at ways to develop accountable care organizations. This article from the Phoenix Business Journal spotlights Optum's work with Tucson Medical Center.
The Movement to Accountable Care
In the latest issue of its member newsletter, the Scottsdale Institute features the perspectives of several health system executives on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). OptumInsight Managing Director Michael Goran, MD., shares six elements that are critical to achieving the "Triple Aim" objective of improved health outcomes, reduced cost of care, and increased satisfaction among patients. Leaders from health systems including Advocate Health Care, Heartland Health and Sharp HealthCare share their perspectives.
Accountable Care News: The Road to Sustainable Health Communities
Todd Cozzens, CEO of Accountable Care Solutions for Optum, shares the company's approach to building Sustainable Health Communities that are connected, intelligent and aligned.
In Their Own Words: Building A ‘Sustainable ACO Community’
ACO Business News interview with Todd Cozzens, CEO of Accountable Care Solutions at Optum, about the company's partnership with Tucson Medical Center to support the Southern Arizona Accountable Care Organization (SAACO), which includes TMC along with independent physicians in the community.
Opening Minds: Persuading physicians to get on board is one of the key steps for hospital executives looking to form an ACO
As the deadline for healthcare reform looms, ACOs are receiving heightened attention from hospital executives. Under healthcare reform, physicians and hospitals can implement ACOs beginning on January 1, although it’s unlikely that many will be ready to go into operation that early.
Plan Could Offer Window to Future
Tucson Medical Center has started a new initiative that some believe could offer a window to the future of health care. The Tucson hospital is teaming up with a health-technology company, Optum, to create a new way of delivering health care.
Healthcare IT News July 2011: Interview with Dogu Celebi
Dogu Celebi, Chief medical officer, payer and government solutions at OptumInsight, discusses the opportunities and challenges of Accountable Care Organizations.
Optum & Tucson Medical Center: Working Together to Build a Sustainable Health Community
The Implications of the CMS Proposed Regulations for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)
On March 31, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its draft regulations for the Medicare Shared Savings Program: Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Before we offer the analysis that makes up the bulk of this paper, it’s important to place that analysis in the context of why the ACO model emerged.
What’s in a Name? It’s Success that Counts
The buzzword du jour in health care is “Accountable Care Organizations,” or ACOs. The cynics among us might ask “Weren’t we calling these ‘medical homes’ just a few short months ago?” Those with long memories in addition to that dose of cynicism hark back twenty years and say these are just capitated HMOs.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for Physicians: The Lost Art of Medicine?
Dr. Shari Medina, Senior Director of Clinical Informatics at Picis, now an Ingenix company, discusses the evolving role of physicians within Sustainable Health Communities.
It’s no secret that health care’s inevitable move toward Sustainable Health Communities (SHC) has many physicians feeling a bit…nervous. Admittedly, most physicians are creatures of habit who fiercely defend their individual approach to patient care, focus on cures not cost, and dread the concept of “cookbook medicine.”
Accountable Care Organizations ACOs The Doctor is In
Guest blogger, Justin Chang, M.D., Chief of Emergency Services, Kaiser Permanente, Colorado, and Medical Director, Exempla St. Joseph Hospital Emergency Department, a proponent of collaboration and enhanced coordination of care, makes the case for a new model of health care delivery.
Leaders Respond to CMS Proposed Accountable Care Organization ACO Regulations
The proposed regulations are indeed out, but what do they really mean to your organization and the industry? Get reactions from leaders at hospitals, health plans, and physician practices that are already well-versed in ACOs, including Monarch Healthcare, Alegent Health, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan/Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Geisinger Health System, Dean Health System, and Scripps Health.
Geisinger’s Multi-ACO Efforts May Not Be Easily Replicated
“For other systems, it’s a huge growth curve in terms of physician integration and to create the infrastructure to manage risk and share savings.”—Anne McCune, Managing Director, Ingenix Consulting
Sustainable Health Communities: Beyond a Game of Leverage between Payers & Providers
As the discussion of Sustainable Health Communities continues, Joel Hoffman, Senior Vice President with Ingenix Consulting, sheds light on the payer perspective.
Football season may be over for the year. But for payers, the idea that “as goes the quarterback so goes the team” has never resonated as loudly as it does now—and will in the future—in the new world of Sustainable Health Communities.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): Predictions for the Provider
Todd Cozzens, CEO of Picis, now an Ingenix company, shares how providers may be affected.
I commented several months ago about how the hurried health care reform bill became so imperfect that there was no way it would not add to already escalating costs. This has spurned a tidal wave in thinking and planning about new models of care that will be more efficient. All this talk of ACOs is more than just a passing fad—we’re seeing actual contractual relationships being formed all across the country and new companies and technologies being applied to help make the transformation. Here are some trends we see as a result of this evolution for providers.
White Papers
Payment Reform: Insights for Payers and Providers on Bundled Payment Models
In its efforts to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs, the health care industry is transitioning away from traditional fee-for-services payment models and embracing new approaches that emphasize the quality of care rather than the quantity of services provided. These payment reforms are designed to create more value for health care consumers, encourage improved coordination among providers, and reduce overall costs.
Videos
2012 World Health Care Congress interview with Douglas Allen, MD
At the 2012 World Health Care Congress in Washington, DC, Douglas Allen, MD, Chief Medical Officer of OptumHealth Collaborative Care speaks to why chronic care is a special area of focus in an ACO, how chronic patients are being handled by the health care system today, and how ACOs are working to segment and target chronic populations with cost-effective health management programs.
How Does Technology Recruit and Support Physicians in an ACO?
Optum was among the sponsors of the recent Accountable Care and Health IT Strategies Summit in Miami. In this short video segment, Dr. Mark Crockett, MD, chief medical officer of Optum Accountable Care Solutions, shares his perspective on how technology can address the needs of primary care physicians as they contemplate joining ACOs.
Announcing a partnership between Tucson Medical Center and OptumInsight that will create a Sustainable Health Community.
Announcing a partnership between Tucson Medical Center and OptumInsight that will create a Sustainable Health Community.