Experts Weigh in on ACO Rule and Say – Take it Easy, HHS!

The proposed rule on accountable care organizations issued April 7, 2011, “requires ACOs to be capable of collecting, managing, using and reporting an enormous amount of clinical, quality and administrative data,” according to “perspectives” article written by former CMS Director, Bruce Merlin Fried.

“The health IT infrastructure required to accomplish this will be substantial (we’re not just talking about EHRs),” Fried explains. “While some ACO sponsors may be existing, integrated networks of physicians and providers with installed IT data management systems, others considering sponsorships of ACOs will be unaffiliated combinations of physicians, physician groups and community hospitals. They will not have the kind of data infrastructure that will be necessary to meet the requirements of the proposed rule.”

Also, “the capital required to acquire and install such infrastructure is likely to be beyond their reach. The lack of investment capital to allow emerging ACOs to obtain and install necessary health data systems will be a barrier to success. We hope the final ACO regulation or another CMS program will offer a solution to this challenge.”