A new report from a recent conference has been released. Accountable care is the term that summarises a US trend.
Beyond fashionable concepts, there is the reality. Let's take the definition for health care:
Delivering accountable care for a population involves five key components:My impression is that in our health system we already have good examples of such organisations. Unfortunately, some issues fail due to wrong regulation. For example, payment and incentives, an issue that should be reformed as soon as possible.
1. A specified population for which providers are jointly accountable.
2. Target outcomes for the population - outcomes that matter to individuals.
3. Metrics and learning, to monitor performance on outcomes and to learn from variation.
4. Payments and incentives aligned with the target outcomes.
5. Co-ordinated delivery, across a range of providers, of the care necessary for
achieving the desired outcomes.
PS. Here you'll find an older post on the same topic of payment and incentives.
PS. Definition. Accountable. adjective \ə-ˈkau̇n-tə-bəl\ : required to explain actions or decisions to someone : required to be responsible for something
