For example, the law fosters the creation of accountable-care organizations, i.e., groups of providers willing to accept a flat fee for the integrated care provided to their Medicare patients.
The exchanges could insist that insurers establish so-called accountable care organizations, in which groups of providers take responsibility for a patient's health for a flat fee.
The objective of this study was to determine if outcomes of care for nursing home residents differ between two groups of providers: nurse practitioners/physicians and physicians only.
Provider organization: Consumers should have a wider choice of provider types, ranging from broad groups of providers to integrated, multidisciplinary teams of providers specializing in specific diseases, disabilities, or patient groups.
The changes under consideration include reimbursing for episodes of care rather than individual visits and bundling payments to groups of providers who would together take responsibility for a patient's health.
Notable among the changes was the Medicare Shared Savings Program, in which groups of providers joined together in so-called Accountable Care Organizations could agree on certain goals for quality improvement and share cost savings.
The most high-profile effort has been with accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are groups of providers who share in the savings – or losses – for managing patients on a budget.
The AQC predates, but is similar to, the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization contracts that Medicare began this year through the Affordable Care Act, an initiative in which Medicare will reward groups of providers based on improved outcomes and lower health care spending.
Narrow networks can be a sign of efficiency, because they can mean insurers are coordinating care among small groups of providers (the way plans like Kaiser Permanente do) or demanding steep discounts from doctors and hospitals.
