What is an Accountable Care Organization?

As an independent medical consultant, Margaret Kelly Burkhead, MD, provides medical advice to people in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. She previously worked as a physician at Raleigh Family Practice, treating patients that ranged in age from newborn to 95 years old. An active participant in the medical community, Margaret Kelly Burkhead, MD, is involved with the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS). She worked with the NCMS to further its Accountable Care Organization initiative (ACO).

The purpose of the initiative is to create an ACO comprised of healthcare professionals, hospitals, and clinics in rural areas in North Carolina. Overseen by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, ACOs band together on a volunteer basis to streamline their processes and care programs. The ideal result is that all patients under ACO providers receive the right treatment at the right time with no duplicated efforts or errors. Currently, Medicare offers three different ACO programs: the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Advance Payment ACO Model, and the Pioneer ACO Model. The Medicare Shared Savings Program is the only one of the three that accepts applicants on an ongoing basis.

To learn more about ACOs and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, visit goo.gl/wPvKpd.