Managing Population Health Through Accountable Care: Three Case Studies
Across the United States, federal, state, and private efforts are under way to promote accountable care systems that encourage higher-quality care, control costs, and improve population health.<br /><br />
In a new set of Commonwealth Fund case studies, Douglas McCarthy, Sarah Klein, and Alexander Cohen describe how three diverse organizations came to develop accountable care systems for their patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial health plans:
<ul>
<li><a href="/publications/case-study/2014/oct/health-share-oregon-community-oriented-approach-accountable-care">Health Share of Oregon</a>, a regional Medicaid coordinated care organization conceived in the midst of a state budget shortfall.</li>
<li><a href="/publications/case-study/2014/oct/hill-physicians-medical-group-market-driven-approach-accountable">Hill Physicians Medical Group</a>, which partnered with a hospital system and a health plan in Northern California to regain market share lost to Kaiser Permanente. </li>
<li><a href="/publications/case-study/2014/oct/marshfield-clinic-demonstrating-potential-accountable-care">Marshfield Clinic</a>, which saw in the Medicare Shared Savings Program an opportunity for incremental increases in revenue to support its investment in population health management. </li>
</ul>
The three organizations employ a constellation of strategies to identify and address unmet medical needs, improve care transitions, and reduce inefficiencies and unnecessary variation in care.<br />
<br />
An accompanying report, <em><a href="/publications/case-study/2014/oct/road-accountable-care-building-systems-population-health">The Road to Accountable Care: Building Systems for Population Health Management</a>,</em> synthesizes findings from all three cases and offers lessons to help health care leaders considering similar initiatives. Also see our infographic, "Accountable Care Strategies to Improve Quality and Lower Costs."