Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Svetlana Beilfuss, Sebastian Linde, Brandon Norton
Summary: This study examines the impact of Medicare ACO programs on physician antibiotic prescribing. It finds that ACO affiliation is associated with a significant decrease in antibiotic prescriptions, with an average reduction of about 20.4 prescriptions per year. The study also shows that the treatment effects vary across different specialties.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Orthopedics
Joshua M. Liao, Eric Z. Shan, Yueming Zhao, Yash Shah, Deborah S. Cousins, Amol S. Navathe
Summary: This study examines the overlap between Medicare's Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model and accountable care organizations (ACOs), identifying differences in patient and hospital characteristics. Patients in the overlap group were less likely to be older, of black race, and of low socioeconomic status compared to CJR-only patients, while high overlap hospitals were more likely to be nonprofit institutions.
JOURNAL OF ARTHROPLASTY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Helen Newton, Susan H. Busch, Mary Brunette, Donovan T. Maust, James O'Malley, Ellen R. Meara
Summary: Most ACOs do not fully implement all collaborative care components, with the majority using care managers and consulting mental health clinicians, but fewer utilizing patient registries. ACOs responsible for mental health care quality measures are more likely to implement collaborative care, indicating the potential impact of payment contracts on encouraging this cost-effective model.
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Joan M. Teno, Laura M. Keohane, Susan L. Mitchell, David J. Meyers, Jennifer N. Bunker, Emmanuelle Belanger, Pedro L. Gozalo, Amal N. Trivedi
Summary: The study compared end-of-life care for dementia patients in different healthcare plans, finding that patients in Medicare Advantage (MA) experienced less costly and burdensome care compared to those in traditional Medicare (TM) and ACOs.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Surgery
Victor H. Lopez, Kristina Vatcheva, Monica M. Betancourt-Garcia, Angel Dono, Ricardo D. Martinez, Robert Armour Forse
Summary: This study found that the implementation of accountable care organizations resulted in increased disease severity, more emergency admissions, higher utilization of computed tomography scans for diagnosis, prolonged length of stay, and increased costs for patients with acute cholecystitis.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
N. Baker, P. M. Singer
Summary: This study examines the regulatory landscape of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the United States and its impact on organizational participation. The study analyzes existing and prior regulations governing ACOs and investigates the changes in ACO participation over time.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Mark Katz Meiselbach, Coleman Drake, Brendan Saloner, Jane M. Zhu, Bradley D. Stein, Daniel Polsky
Summary: Medicaid managed care insurers play an important role in ensuring access to buprenorphine for treating opioid use disorder. However, there is variation in access to in-network primary care providers who can prescribe buprenorphine among Medicaid managed care enrollees. Despite higher overdose death rates in some states, most enrollees live in areas with a shortage of these providers. Increasing the network participation rate of prescribers can improve the likelihood of enrollees seeing a prescriber. Policies such as matching patients with buprenorphine prescribers and requiring a minimum number of prescribers in networks can improve access within Medicaid managed care.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Meng-Yun Lin, Amresh D. Hanchate, Austin B. Frakt, James F. Burgess, Kathleen Carey
Summary: Physician-hospital integration in accountable care organizations (ACOs) has raised concerns about the impact on prices and spending. This study examined differences in patient population, organizational characteristics, and healthcare spending among 16 commercial ACOs in Massachusetts based on levels of integration. High-integrated and medium-integrated ACOs were more likely to be integrated delivery systems with a larger number of providers. Higher-integrated ACOs had higher healthcare spending, driven by outpatient facility services, even after adjusting for organizational characteristics and patient mix.
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Cristian Lieneck, Eric Weaver, Thomas Maryon
Summary: Ambulatory healthcare providers participating in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) incur costs beyond typical practice operations related to value-based care initiatives. COVID-19 pandemic prompted CMS to issue waivers for ACO reporting requirements, allowing researchers to study variables influencing costs for ambulatory care organizations participating in ACOs. Findings identified variables like enhanced patient care management, health information technology improvements, and organizational ownership/reimbursement models reducing costs for ambulatory care organizations.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Kenton J. Johnston, Travis Loux, Karen E. Joynt E. Maddox
Summary: This study compares ACO enrollment and care patterns for patients with and without dementia, and finds that patients with dementia are less likely to enroll and retain in ACOs compared to those without dementia. However, ACO-enrolled dementia patients have a more favorable health risk profile. In terms of care patterns, ACO enrollment is associated with higher wellness visit rates and more fragmented primary care.
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Stefan Santavicca, Richard Duszak, Gregory N. Nicola, Lauren Parks Golding, Andrew B. Rosenkrantz, Christian Wernz, Danny R. Hughes
Summary: Between 2013 and 2018, the participation of radiologists in MSSP ACOs increased significantly, with larger ACOs having higher percentages of radiologist participation. ACOs with radiologists had more diverse physician specialties and a higher rate of specialist representation compared to ACOs without radiologists. Demographics of beneficiaries were similar regardless of radiologist participation in ACOs.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Management
Yingchao Lan, Aravind Chandrasekaran, Deepa Goradia, Daniel Walker
Summary: This study examines the impact of collaboration structures on the performance of an integrated healthcare delivery system, namely an accountable care organization (ACO). The findings suggest that there are synergies between partnership scope and scale in improving ACO performance.
M&SOM-MANUFACTURING & SERVICE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Xi Zhu, Huang Huang, A. Clinton MacKinney, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Summary: The study examines the associations between accountable care organization (ACO) characteristics and participation in 2-sided risk tracks in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP). The findings suggest that ACO characteristics were not significantly associated with the probability of participating in 2-sided risk tracks in initial contracts, but ACO size, affiliation with supporting organizations, and performance were positively associated with the likelihood of switching to 2-sided risk. Rural ACOs were less likely to switch to 2-sided risk than urban ACOs.
JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Matteo Baldoni, Cristina Baroglio, Roberto Micalizio, Stefano Tedeschi
Summary: Robustness is a crucial property for software systems, especially in distributed and interconnected components. Multiagent systems are valuable for implementing distributed systems, but they lack systematic approach in addressing robustness. Accountability can be used for designing robust MAS effectively.
IEEE INTERNET COMPUTING
(2021)
Editorial Material
Ecology
Yukiko M. Yamashita
Summary: A study manipulating heterochromatin content in Drosophila Y chromosomes found no association between Y chromosome length and longevity, challenging the hypothesis that Y chromosome-derived heterochromatin causes shorter lifespan in Y chromosome-bearing animals.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2023)