Accountable Care Organization case study
Value-Based Care Case Studies
Abstract
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are healthcare models designed to improve care coordination, enhance quality, and reduce costs by aligning incentives across physicians, hospitals, and other providers. ACOs address inefficiencies and fragmentation in the U.S. healthcare system by emphasizing population health management, preventive care, and patient engagement. This paper examines the McFarland Clinic, an Iowa-based, physician-owned multispecialty group, as a case study of ACO success. Since joining both commercial and Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs, McFarland Clinic has consistently achieved high-quality outcomes and maintained shared savings. Key strategies include integrated care teams, data-driven population health management, specialist-led quality improvement initiatives, and strong primary care foundations. The Clinic’s experience highlights how ACOs can drive value-based care through physician governance, proactive chronic disease management, and collaborative, patient-centered practices.
Introduction
The AAN’s Care Delivery Subcommittee, under the guidance of the Medical Economics and Practice Committee, set out to better understand different care delivery models and their professional and personal advantages and disadvantages compared to traditional fee-for-service care delivery models and reimbursement. Michael J. Kitchell, MD, FAAN, Care Delivery Subcommittee member, shared his 15-year experience as part of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). Responses below represent the individual experiences of the contributors and are not the official opinion of the AAN.
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