Accountable Care Is Healthcare’s New OS

The 1st year report card on Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations is out. Depending on who you talk to, the story changes dramatically. As Gregg Masters pointed out, reactions to the reports on the Pioneer ACOs would either have you believe that ACOs “succeeded” or that “Obamacare is a failure.”

Nine of the 32 pioneer ACOs (that could not find savings) are leaving the program , seven to shared savings (less risky) and two (reportedly) to private-payer ACO models. So, in fact, none are quitting the idea of accountable care so much as modifying their approach. Although some observers might believe that nine Pioneer ACOs leaving the program is evidence of failure, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who thought all ACOs would be successful.