On April 14, the Commonwealth Fund released a brief examining the accountable care organization (ACO) component of the national health care reform law.  The brief outlines what ACOs are and how they will operate under the law.  Additionally, the authors provide policy recommendations for implementing the law's ACO components to ensure that they foster high performance.

From the report:

This report by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System (Commission): 1) sets forth the rationale for creating ACOs; 2) describes several promising types of ACO models that should be considered and evaluated as part of an effort to facilitate adaptability and spread of accountability for quality and cost to as wide a segment of the U.S. health care delivery system as possible; and 3) concludes with a set of Commission recommendations on what ought to be expected from ACOs and how to ensure their successful implementation and spread, both immediately and over time.  Although the Commission’s recommendations are addressed, for the most part, to CMS, the report also is intended to offer information and guidance to providers, payers, and patients who will be forming, and interacting with, ACOs.

Full report: High Performance Accountable Care: Building on Success and Learning from Experience (PDF | 428.87 kb)

Commonwealth Fund.  (2011).  High performance accountable care: building on success and learning from experience.  Guterman, S., Schoenbaum, S., Davis, K., Schoen, C., Audet, A., Stremkis, K. and Zezza, M.