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30 August 2010

20 Health Systems to Participate in AMGA Collaborative on Developing Accountable Care Organizations
5 Million Patients to Benefit from Improved Quality and Efficiency

ALEXANDRIA, VA - The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today announced 20 leading medical groups and organized systems of care that will be participating in its ACO Development Collaborative, scheduled to have its first meeting in conjunction with the AMGA National Summit on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). These organizations represent more than 10,500 providers serving approximately 5 million patients in the United States.

"AMGA and its member medical groups are the vanguard of health care in America, developing and delivering effective, efficient health care to the patients they serve," said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, president and chief executive officer at AMGA. "For over a decade, AMGA has used learning collaboratives to improve organizational performance through systematic change, and recent reform legislation has inspired members to use the ACO model as an impetus to transform the delivery and financing of care. Through the ACO Development Collaborative, participants will create a community of knowledge that will assist them to transform their organizations from early adopters into successful ACOs and provide best practices for future adopters."

AMGA's yearlong ACO Development Collaborative will assist member organizations to gain and strengthen the critical capabilities necessary to become a successful ACO. Participating groups include:

ABQ Health Partners, Albuquerque, NM
Advocate Physician Partners, Mount Prospect, IL
Alegent Health Clinic, Omaha, NE
Arch Health Partners, Poway, CA
Crystal Run Healthcare LLP, Middletown, NY
District Medical Group, Phoenix, AZ
Esse Health, St. Louis, MO
Harbin Clinic, Rome, GA
Holzer Clinic, Gallipolis, OH
Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY
New Lexington Clinic, PSC, Lexington, KY
Physicians of Southwest Washington, Seattle, WA
The Polyclinic, Seattle, WA
The Portland Clinic, LLP, Portland, OR
Portland IPA, Portland, OR
PriMed Physicians, Dayton, OH
Vanderbilt Medical Group, Nashville, TN
Walla Walla Clinic, Walla Walla, WA
Weill Cornell Physician Organization, New York, NY
Wilmington Health, Wilmington, NC

During the first meeting of the collaborative, participants will dialogue with experts on topics such as:

The role of purchasers and payers in ACOs
Creating and sustaining leaders
Exploring various models for clinical integration
Critical issues in population management including mental health integration and palliative care
Building effective care teams
Standardizing care processes
Aligning leadership around accountability
Designing measures of quality and efficiency
Employing IT systems to support reporting and transparency
Legal challenges and regulatory hurdles

AMGA is convening two collaboratives focused on ACOs: the Development Collaborative and an Implementation Collaborative. The collaboratives will offer access to content experts and provide a forum in which peer organizations can learn from one another as they begin to build and refine business and care processes to develop high-quality, efficient, and sustainable systems of care that provide high-value care to their patients and communities. The first meeting of the ACO Development Collaborative will take place October 1-2 in conjunction with the AMGA National Summit on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The first meeting of the ACO Implementation Collaborative will take place in January 2011.

The AMGA ACO Initiative is sponsored by Daiichi-Sankyo, Phytel, Inc., Premera Blue Cross, Robert Bosch Healthcare, sanofi-aventis, and VHA Inc. For information of how to become and initiative sponsor, contact Fred Haag at fhaag@amga.org or (703) 838-0033, ext. 329.

Background
For many years, AMGA has pushed for reform efforts that foster the creation of community-based entities accountable for comprehensive healthcare services-referred to as ACOs in the newly passed healthcare legislation-that promote accountability and build on the practice patterns of high-performing organizations. The organization, in fact, provided guidance to congressional leaders on the appropriate language regarding ACOs and lobbied aggressively for its inclusion.

As part of its continuing efforts, the association hosted a series of regional meetings in 2010 that brought together the thought leaders of healthcare delivery systems to educate medical groups on how to develop, operate, and maintain high-performing ACOs. The meetings focused on physician-led, patient-centered ACOs and went beyond the theoretical by bringing together actual case studies presented by medical group leaders with firsthand experience in providing accountable care to their patients. AMGA's Institute for Quality Leadership (IQL), subtitled the "AMGA National Summit on ACOs," and the collaboratives will continue the work of the regional meetings by bringing groups from across the country to share their insights and strategies.

The American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA's mission is to improve health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. The members of AMGA deliver health care to approximately 109 million patients in 49 states, nearly 1 in 3 Americans. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for medical groups, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs and publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org

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