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Doctors in accountable care organizations (ACOs), and those thinking of starting or joining one, have had their hands full keeping up with changes in the way Medicare is administering them.
ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and/or other healthcare providers that work together with a goal of providing better care at lower cost. As part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) drive to get more providers paid based on value rather than on volume of services, payments to ACOs are based not on how many office visits their doctors participate in, but on whether the ACO meets certain cost and quality benchmarks. Providers wishing to form or join ACOs have a variety of models to choose from, some of which involve taking a financial risk in order to possibly achieve a greater financial reward.