ABSTRACT
In an accountable care structure, physicians, hospitals, and others elect to come together and contractually agree to be jointly responsible and accountable for providing better care,
better health, and better value to entire populations of patients, payers, and communities. They agree to collaborate, connect, follow evidence-based protocols, and be measured and compared in both quality and cost. Ideally, a physician-led interdisciplinary structure promotes a focus on managing both cost and quality and motivates health care stakeholders to work together, within disciplines and between disciplines, as they approach population health care and risk-related payment mechanisms. The ACO must significantly advance population health management and, if successful in the long term, will transform care delivery.
