We are all looking to save money and far be it that hardly any consumers understand the ACO lingo and it’s more about what’s my deductible and what’s my maximum out of pocket when you get down 
to how all of us as patient consider what is the bare information we need to make decisions. I read several of these all the time and this one is interesting. As you know we have such “cookie cutter” press releases today so I try to speed past the part where “everyone is excited” that’s in every template today to get to the meat and potatoes.
If I am reading this correctly it appears that the “team” is going to take care of your treatment and whether or not this will be your family practice doctor who is the gateway reads a little gray or does a hired doctor by Blue Cross over see all of this? It’s for those who are members who have chronic care conditions and let’s face it we are diagnosed with one of them today as the analytics and matching will catch you on one of them, so let’s everyone is in for practical purposes. It’s not that we are sicker, there’s more to diagnose today than there was 20 years ago, so that aside everyone’s in:)
The coordinated approaches seem to be exactly what HIE does in healthcare, get all the information together, right? To me this just comes down to Health IT and having it for the doctor. So again I’m still like everyone else out there trying to figure this out with the ACO interpretations we see out there today. It is not all just data, and the human element is in there along with doctors and nurses suffering from alert and alarm fatigue so the the group will be supplied with more of these of course. The focus on evidence based medicine it out there today anyway and there are exceptions to it as needed too.
Again I can’t find anything here that’s unique other than the quest we have had for years and that is to have all the patient data at hand from everywhere so good decisions can be made. Every PPO patient will have this opportunity to enroll but will they understand the lingo? You know what, I have not read any raging reviews from any patients yet on ACOs and maybe it’s too soon for that?
Anyone have any better interpretations here? Add a comment. BD
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to recent studies, the treatment for the top one percent of patients with chronic conditions accounts for 25 percent of all health care spending by the privately insured. Between multiple hospital stays, emergency room visits and prescription drugs, medical spending for this group can quickly add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Physicians and medical experts agree that a collaborative and coordinated approach to treat chronic conditions is key to successfully improving the health and wellness of patients while also helping to address the growing costs associated with treatment.
“We know that members who are diagnosed with a chronic condition often face complex treatments and medical regimens, and are many times faced with figuring out how to navigate a very complex medical system on their own”
Anthem Blue Cross led the way in patient centered care with one of the first Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in the state. Beginning this month, Anthem is expanding this model and network with the introduction of a program focused on enhanced care coordination in collaboration with well organized, high quality provider organizations in California. This program is specifically designed to help improve the health of members affected by chronic conditions and improve the value of the care delivered. The new program will be available to fully insured PPO members at no additional cost, with self-funded offerings to follow.
For members who reside in Southern California, the new program is available at Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation and Torrance Memorial Medical Center/Torrance Memorial Integrated Physicians. Anthem will be expanding the program to more than 20 providers in coming months.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20121206006194/en/Anthem-Blue-Cross-Expands-ACO-Network-Enhanced?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
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