David Sayen, Region IX CMS Administrator, came to Ventura last week and presented on the vision of his department and accountable care organizations. Everything flows from their three aims:
- seamless coordinated care
- reduce per capita costs through improvement
- improve population and community health
He described how transparency will increase with accountable care and we can expect to see more this occurring — next with physicians. He also shared that will should expect to see much more about safety from CMS over the coming weeks. In this environment, hospitals can anticipate working much more closely and in coordination with community resources. This reminded me of Chapter 11 (4th Edition), Prevention and Non-Acute Services, in The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization. It so rightly points out that the issues facing a healthcare organization, such as hospitals, are more likely to be those of coordination and extension of access than of supplying major unmet needs. If you are a healthcare leader who wants to prepare for ACOs, just brush off your copy of Mr. Griffith’s book and read Chapter 11, again