Only 15 Percent of Healthcare Executives are very Familiar with ACOs

By:

Chris Anderson

The 2011 Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Readiness Study released recently by Beacon Partners shows that only 15 percent of healthcare executives are “very familiar” with ACOs. Nonetheless, more than half surveyed said they are moving ahead with plans for ACOs.

“Clearly, there is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty surrounding ACOs, but most healthcare organizations understand that they need to move forward with an ACO strategy,” says Kevin Burchill, director at Beacon Partners in a press release. “This is most likely due to the fact that many C-level executives are optimistic regarding the potential benefits that an ACO model will provide to their organization.”

The study found that 62 percent of healthcare executives were “somewhat familiar” with ACOs and – even though there was still a high level of uncertainty and many didn’t have a high level of familiarity with the ACO concept – 92 percent of respondents said they are either in development or in the pre-planning stages for their own ACO. This marks a significant jump from a study by Beacon released earlier this year that showed only 47 percent of healthcare organizations were in the planning and development stages.

Healthcare organizations are going to need to becoming much more conversant in exactly what an ACO is and what its benefits are in order to successfully promote the concept, Burchill noted.

“It’s crucial for the industry to improve upon their communication of an ACO’s structure, rules and benefits, otherwise there will continue to be some level of negativity surrounding ACOs,” he said.

Other findings in the report include:

• 45 percent of those surveyed have not committed money from their operating budgets to ACO planning efforts and 27 percent are unsure what their budget is for ACO planning


• 49 percent of respondents named their CEO as the person responsible for ACO development


• 53 percent of respondents have not yet created a department or executive role to develop an ACO


• 44 precent of respondents have no plans to hire personnel to handle ACO development, and another 25 percent plan to reallocate existing personnel


• 48 precent of respondents are unsure as to how an ACO will affect their organization


• 31 percent of respondents listed undefined rules and confusion of ACO structure as their top concern in the market, followed by high start-up costs (17 precent) and regulatory issues (14 precent)

“Perhaps none of this should be surprising given that ARRA and PPACA regulations have challenged providers to move forward without the benefit or clarification of final rules and regulations,” Beacon noted in the report’s executive summary. “Nor should it surprise that this confusion has also led to uncertainty about how to communicate ACO developments to their patients.”