Hospital execs in no hurry to implement ACO models

Hospital leaders are reluctant to implement accountable care organization (ACO)-like models in the near future, according to a study from the Indiana-based nonprofit Purdue Healthcare Advisors.

In its survey of 206 U.S. hospital executives—conducted in October 2013 on its behalf by Resolution Research—46 percent of hospital executives have no plans to implement ACO models. In particular, they are waiting for models to stabilize and mature to avoid reinvesting funds to implement future updates or changes.

The leaders with no plan to implement an ACO model cited these reasons:

• More than half (52 percent) want to see stronger evidence and a consistency of successful models
• Almost half (49 percent) believe their hospital is too small for an ACO-like model
• 26 percent feel the financial investment outweighs the potential incentives or bonuses and 13 percent feel the performance benchmarks are unrealistic for their hospital
• 4 percent are concerned that the transition would overwhelm staff

The survey also found that executives struggle with finding solutions for lower reimbursements and increased costs while maintaining an acceptable standard of care. Executives report the following strategies to reduce costs:

• More than half (60 percent) are focused on reducing waste and inefficiencies
• 19 percent are considering staff and salary reductions 
• 15 percent are working to improve quality of care

Those surveyed also reported challenges with implementing EHRs. Concerns cited included: interoperability with other providers (56 percent); data retrieval and analytics (50 percent); ongoing staff readiness and training (49 percent); infrastructure and technology (49 percent); patient engagement (37 percent); vulnerability to data/security breaches (35 percent); vendor partnership and engagement (31 percent); disaster recovery planning (30 percent); and long-term record preservation (18 percent).