KLAS: ACOs will be the future of healthcare
While the accountable care organization (ACO) model may not be formally pursued from a Medicare ACO designation standpoint, the majority of providers agree that accountable care is where the future of healthcare is going, according to a new report from market researcher KLAS.
The Orem, Utah-based researchers interviewed 197 providers at 187 organizations to get an early picture of how providers and vendors are piecing together accountable care and what creating an ACO will really mean for health IT. While only a third of surveyed providers plan to pursue a formal Medicare ACO designation, the majority agree that accountable care is the way of the future, the report stated.
"Accountable care will touch every aspect of an organization," the report stated. "Its changes have the potential of turning the healthcare world upside down–from patient care to administration to revenue cycle management to IT infrastructure. The internal challenges appear endless. Unfortunately, planning an ACO is further complicated by the fact that the final government rules have not yet been published."
Since each ACO will be different, there is no “one-stop shop” for providers’ ACO IT needs. According to the report, many providers are looking at a combination of technology tools to fill in the gaps and meet ACO requirements. However, providers see some vendors are more prepared than others—with the most integrated rising to the top.
Healthcare vendors Cerner and Epic currently lead in provider confidence as being the most ACO-ready, the report remarked. Despite a few integration and offering gaps, Cerner has already integrated many of the IT pieces needed to complete an ACO puzzle and is taking a proactive approach to working with the individual needs of interested providers.
Epic is also perceived as being close to ACO-ready—with gaps found primarily in its analytics capabilities and its ability to share data with non-Epic systems.
"Providers describe a variety of planned HIT purchases for their ACO projects–including data warehousing and analytics, health information exchanges and patient portals," concluded the report. "Vendors whose offerings integrate best with providers' in-house systems will top the selection lists going forward."
The Orem, Utah-based researchers interviewed 197 providers at 187 organizations to get an early picture of how providers and vendors are piecing together accountable care and what creating an ACO will really mean for health IT. While only a third of surveyed providers plan to pursue a formal Medicare ACO designation, the majority agree that accountable care is the way of the future, the report stated.
"Accountable care will touch every aspect of an organization," the report stated. "Its changes have the potential of turning the healthcare world upside down–from patient care to administration to revenue cycle management to IT infrastructure. The internal challenges appear endless. Unfortunately, planning an ACO is further complicated by the fact that the final government rules have not yet been published."
Since each ACO will be different, there is no “one-stop shop” for providers’ ACO IT needs. According to the report, many providers are looking at a combination of technology tools to fill in the gaps and meet ACO requirements. However, providers see some vendors are more prepared than others—with the most integrated rising to the top.
Healthcare vendors Cerner and Epic currently lead in provider confidence as being the most ACO-ready, the report remarked. Despite a few integration and offering gaps, Cerner has already integrated many of the IT pieces needed to complete an ACO puzzle and is taking a proactive approach to working with the individual needs of interested providers.
Epic is also perceived as being close to ACO-ready—with gaps found primarily in its analytics capabilities and its ability to share data with non-Epic systems.
"Providers describe a variety of planned HIT purchases for their ACO projects–including data warehousing and analytics, health information exchanges and patient portals," concluded the report. "Vendors whose offerings integrate best with providers' in-house systems will top the selection lists going forward."