Discussion: Accountable Care Organizations & Quality Care

This discussion board post examines Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) as groups of healthcare providers who voluntarily collaborate to deliver coordinated, high-quality care. It emphasizes reducing burnout and turnover through technology like staff scheduling software and wearable biosensors. The discussion highlights the importance of reporting on minimum measure sets, providing self-care information to patients, and using clinical decision-making tools to lower inpatient costs. It also stresses improving patient engagement and clinician-patient relationships. Ultimately, the post concludes that ACOs should focus on operational efficiencies to reduce inpatient care costs related to medical equipment, facilities, and personnel.

Running head: DISCUSSION
Accountable Care Organization
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DISCUSSION
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) comprise of group of hospitals, doctors, and
different healthcare providers, who assemble together, voluntarily, with the aim of providing
coordinated and high quality care services to the patients who are being served.
One major approach that can be adopted by the ACOs encompass reducing rates of
burnout and expensive turnover with the adoption of selective technology. With an increase
in patient burden, the caregivers often get burned out, thereby leaving the healthcare
organizations, in search of convenient working atmosphere (Buchbinder and Shanks 2016).
Use of staff scheduling software, and implementation of wearable biosensors will help in
monitoring the patients more effectively, thereby reducing their hospitalization and
subsequent costs. Myocardial infarction costs can be lowered by continuing reporting on
minimum six measure sets that are based on the population being served. Electronically-
derived or chart-abstracted measure data must also be submitted by the ACOs (The Joint
Commission 2016). Additionally providing self-care information to the patients, regarding
medication administration will also help in lowering hospitalization costs of congestive heart
failure. Furthermore, essential patient data must also be reported for at least a quarter of a
calendar year. Usage of clinical decision making tools for determining whether particular
tests are correct option for the patients, will also help in lowering inpatient costs. The ACOs
must also work towards improving patient engagement and establish effective clinician-
patient therapeutic relationship, with the aim of lowering inpatient healthcare costs.
To conclude, inpatient care costs comprise of medical equipment/supplies, general
facility, and personnel that could be summarized with operational efficiencies, all of which
must be targeted for lowering the costs.

2DISCUSSION
References
Buchbinder, S.B. and Shanks, N.H. ed., 2016. Introduction to health care management. Jones
& Bartlett Publishers.
The Joint Commission., 2016. ORYX performance measure changes and expectations for
2016. [online] Available at:
https://www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/6/jconline_September_2_2015table.pdf [Accessed
21 Jan. 2019].