Milliman Inc. has published a brief examining accountable care organizations (ACOs) role beyond the Medicare program.  The authors outline how ACOs will operate and how they are supposed to reduce costs and improve care quality.  The brief suggests that a move toward increased care integration is vital for providers to maintain viability.

From the report:

Physicians and hospitals are facing unprecedented pressure from healthcare purchasers to deliver increased value, i.e. higher-quality more cost-effective care.  The authors believe it will be increasingly difficult for individual providers to continue operating under the status quo and that further provider integration is inevitable.

Full report: ACOs beyond Medicare (PDF | 199.22 KB)

Milliman Inc.  (2011).  ACOs beyond Medicare.  Boyarsky, V., Kahn, H., Mirkin, D., and Parke, R.