ACO Serious Illness Care: Survey And Case Studies Depict Current Challenges And Future Opportunities

• Published in: Health Affairs 2019-06, Vol.38 (6), p.1011-1020
• Main Authors: Bleser, William K., Saunders, Robert S., Winfield, Lia, Japinga, Mark, Smith, Nathan, Kaufman, Brystana G., Crook, Hannah L., Muhlestein, David B., McClellan, Mark
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accountability; Accountable care organizations; Advance directives; Attribution; Beneficiaries; Care plans; Case studies; Coordination; Cross cutting; Data analysis; Dissemination; Expenditures; Financial incentives; Flexibility; Health care policy; Health information; Home based; Illnesses; Incentives; Information management; Information technology; Infrastructure; Interviews; Leadership; Medical technology; Medicare; Organizational change; Palliative care; Patients; Polls & surveys; Population; Populations; Qualitative research; Quality; Reimbursement; Response rates; Risk adjustment; Rural areas; Savings; Workforce
• ISSN: 0278-2715; 1544-5208
• DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00013

Care for people living with serious illness is suboptimal for many reasons, including underpayment for key services (such as care coordination and social supports) in fee-for-service reimbursement. Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have potential to improve serious illness care because of their widespread dissemination, strong financial incentives for care coordination in downside-risk models, and flexibility in shared savings spending. Through a national survey we found that 94 percent of ACOs at least partially identify their seriously ill beneficiaries, yet only 8-21 percent have widely implemented serious illness initiatives such as advance care planning or home-based palliative care. We selected six diverse ACOs with successful programs for case studies and interviewed fifty-three leaders and front-line personnel. Cross-cutting themes include the need for up-front investment beyond shared savings to build serious illness infrastructure and workforce; supporting the business case for organizational buy-in; how ACO contract specifications affect savings for serious illness populations; and using data and health information technology to manage populations. We discuss the implications of the recent Medicare ACO regulatory overhaul and other policies related to serious illness quality measures, risk adjustment, attribution methods, supporting rural ACOs, and enhancing timely data access.