Accountable Care Organizations

Policy G11

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that AMDA - Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine should work with other stakeholders in LTC to investigate, monitor and/or determine specific recommendations ACOs should follow in the following areas to promote best LTC patient care:

1. Accountable Care Organizations (ACOS) should clearly delineate how fair and equitable payment for long term care physician services will be made.
2. ACOs should establish meaningful relationships with long-term care providers to ensure smooth and successful transitions of appropriate patients to and from long-term care environments. In particular, ACOs should ensure physician responsibilities including communication among all involved sites of service are clear and support best patient care.
3. ACOs should clarify how quality measures and incentive programs will affect providers in long term care.
4. Long-term care providers should have easy access to the ACOs’ electronic medical records; and, absent a formally established relationship with an ACO, there should be continuing efforts to provide quality care between a long-term care provider and an ACO.
5. ACOs should allow smaller physician practices to participate in the Medicare’s Shared Savings Program by joining with them in a coordinated manner to promote accountability for a patient population.
6. ACOs should encourage investment in infrastructure to improve the processes and outcomes for high quality and efficient delivery of care in all care settings.
7. ACO program standards should be relaxed to allow for the generally lesser technologic capabilities of the small practice and those practices involved with long-term care.
8. Incentive payments should be provided by the ACOs for facilities caring for their patients to invest in electronic medical records.