What is an ACO anyway?

You may have heard a lot about ACOs recently, and wonder what they are. ACO stands for Accountable Care Organization. A simple definition is “an organization of doctors and providers and their affiliated hospitals that provide integrated, comprehensive health care for a defined population of patients to improve quality and provide cost-effective care.”

The Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization (BIDCO), a physician and hospital network and an ACO, came into existence on December 30, 2012. BIDCO represents the joining of the former Beth Israel Deaconess Physician Organization (BIDPO) with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. BIDCO’s goal is to leverage the shared skills of diverse physician practices and community and tertiary (major/specialty) hospitals to offer our patients the highest quality and best-value care.

To improve quality of care, BIDCO:

1. Has nurse practitioners who make home visits to our sickest and most vulnerable Medicare patients;
2. Has registered nurse (RN) care managers who help care for some of our most challenged patients using a combination of  telephone calls and home visits;
3. Has clinical pharmacists who work with patients who have complex medication lists and assist patients who may not be properly taking their medications;
4. Employs Quality Improvement Coordinators who assist our primary care offices with enhancing their patient outreach efforts for cancer screening, diabetic measures and other metrics;
5. Is developing disease management programs to improve care through our primary care offices. These initiatives include palliative care, chronic kidney disease, emphysema, diabetes and congestive heart failure.

We also work hard to enhance clinical integration within the BIDCO network. For example, we move  electronic health record (EHR) data for all of our patients into one quality data warehouse. Having this data in one place allows us to measure the quality of care across our full network and identify areas for improvement. In addition, we manage physician credentialing and enrollment, assist our physicians with many insurance-related issues and provide EHR support. BIDCO continuously evaluates our efforts to be sure we are making progress.

In January 2014, our physician and hospital network expanded as we welcomed Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), CHA Physicians Organization, and Hebrew SeniorLife. Today, BIDCO’s network includes 2,200 doctors, including nearly 500 PCPs and more than 1,600 specialists, and five hospitals in eastern Massachusetts.

Health care presents many challenges to patients, providers and hospitals. At BIDCO, we believe that collaboration among doctors, other providers and hospitals offers the best opportunity to deliver high-quality care at a reasonable price.

We will continue to update you periodically on our progress. We welcome your questions and suggestions.

—Rich Parker, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization