What is an ACO?
What's an ACO? Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to their Medicare fee-for-service ("Traditional") patients.
The goal of coordinated care is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services. When an ACO succeeds in both delivering high-quality care and spending health care dollars more wisely, it may share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program. Participating in an ACO is purely voluntary for providers. Fee-for-service Medicare patients who see providers who participate in a Medicare ACO maintain all their Medicare rights, including the right to choose any doctors and providers that accept Medicare. Whether providers choose to participate in an ACO or not, their patients with Medicare may continue to see them.Shared Savings Program Overview
Program Statutes and Regulations
