Question

1. Discuss the roles and responsibilities that large, urban integrated healthcare delivery system (IDS) has in an ACO. What are some of the benefits and disadvantages of ACOs that will impact Large, urban integrated healthcare delivery system (IDS).

Answer 1

Roles And Responsibilities of Large Integrated Healthcare delivery System -

1. Improved Pharmaceutical Management – with the availabil-
ity of the integrated system, medications errors will decrease
significantly as well as having unified formulary will reduce
the cost of the Pharmaceuticals.This will reflect positively on the patient’s safety as well as on the overall cost of the treatment.
2. Improved Health of the Community – IDS will result in great
improvement in the community health and will generate
more confidence in the healthcare system and the providers.

3.Increased Collaboration- It will assure the care continuum and reduce un-needed duplicated processes. The efforts of the IDS members will be integrated towards the development of effective and continuous care. It will ensure patient’s safety and better patient’s and family satisfaction.
4. Improved Efficiency – IDS eliminates healthcare waste and redundancy, allowing for better cost containment and enhance the quality of care.
5. Integrated Systems –programs provide hospital systems with many more monitoring and enforcement tools. Since the
management authority will set the standards of care and
monitor the progress of the program.
6. Payer Partnerships – As IDS improves the quality of patient
care and clinical processes and reduces costs, hospitals are
able to achieve better reputation and it will work as market-
ing tools for them.
7. Improved Care Management – Organizations that are suc-
cessfully clinically-integrated will be able to provide improved
care management. Patients who see multiple doctors are sub-
jected to duplication of work and diagnostic procedures. Its goal is to achieve the best clinical and cost outcomes for both patient and provider.
8. Integrated Continuum of Care – IDS is teamwork among
healthcare providers working to ensure patients get the right
care at the right time in the right setting.
9. Clinical Data Systems – The availability of Electronic Medi-
cal Records (EMR) is essential for the availability of patient’s
data to all healthcare givers. It enables access to the patient’s
medical history, Medications, investigations and the overall
patient’s condition progress. Information that measures ser-
vice, performance, quality, and outcomes on an individual
provider and network-wide basis.
10. Patient-centered Communication – communication is an essential factor in patient-centered care, the availability of good communication among the caregivers and the patient as well as the family is the cornerstone in patient’s experience. This will be achieved by implementing IDS. The IDS emphasis on timely and clear communication is key to influencing patient behavior, resulting in cost/quality benefits.

Benefits of ACO's -

1. It creates better communication throughout the entire exchange.
2. There are cost advantages to consider when joining an Accountable Care Organization then you will not have to pay for all of the expenses of improved patient care by yourself.
3.   It provides an opportunity to offer more comprehensive care whenever they need to visit a medical provider.
4. It allows physicians to start driving the care plans instead of the insurance agencies.
5. There is full availability of a patient’s medical history.
6. It can eliminate some of the expenses that patients pay.

Disadvantages of ACO-

1. The cost of the IT infrastructure can be very Expensive to medical providers.
2. Sharing everything means that you also concede some decision-making opportunities.
3. There can be challenges with data security for your patients
4. There will be more patients that come through your medical practice.
5. AOCs do not offer a guarantee of success.
6. There is a time element to consider with Accountable Care Organizations.