Greater Genesee County ACO Program
About the Greater Genesee County ACO:
Greater Genesee County ACO, LLC was formed on May 28, 2013 as a limited liability company operating in the state of Michigan. The ACO’s mission is to deliver quality coordinated cost effective care to the population we serve by pooling and sharing innovative technology and resources, while always being sensitive to the individual needs of each patient. It is comprised of local individual primary care physicians who have each been in practice a minimum of ten years. The ACO has a governing body comprised of seven board members. All of the board members’ practices have been designated Patient Centered Medical Homes.
The ACO will use evidence based resources to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care to its assigned beneficiaries with the objective of lowering the overall cost of this care. Greater Genesee ACO is committed to high quality care for individuals, high quality health for populations, and reduced expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries. One potential mechanism for achieving this goal is health care providers grouping together to form an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), who accept joint responsibility for the cost and quality of care outcomes for a specified group of patients.
The Greater Genesee County ACO program encourages integration of care, quality improvement, and cost savings through care coordination and reduction in duplicate services. Several objectives underlie this approach:
- Promote changes in the delivery of care from fragmented care to coordinated care systems as part of broader efforts to improve care integration.
- Find new ways of delivering care that will decrease expenditures over time.
- Learn what it takes for ACOs to most effectively deliver high quality care for individuals, high quality health for populations, and lower growth in expenditures for the Medicare fee-for-service population.
- Develop close working relationships with physicians, staff, and patients.
- Clearly define roles and responsibilities of PCPs and specialists in caring for the patient.
- Give appropriate and timely consultations and referrals.