This article is the latest in the Health Affairs Forefront series, Accountable Care for Population Health, featuring analysis and discussion of how to understand, design, support, and measure patient-centered, cost-efficient care under the umbrella of accountable care. Additional articles will be published throughout 2025. Readers are encouraged to review the Call for Submissionsfor this series….

The US health care system generates as much as 9 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions linked to the sector have also risen by 6 percent from 2010 to 2018, exceeding one ton per capita, the highest among industrialized nations. Significantly, the US health sector accounts for 27 percent of the global health-sector climate footprint,…

The stakes are high in healthcare with rising demands for transparency and quality, challenging the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) model like never before. This environment is ripe with opportunities to deliver value-based care (VBC). For nearly two decades, healthcare systems have shifted from FFS to VBC, aiming to reduce costs while improving patient health. This transition…

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have made great strides in enhancing patient care and reducing costs, saving $3.1 billion in 2023. The recently released report based on ACO performance in 2023 (PY2023) provides valuable insights into where ACOs are excelling. On this episode Dan sits down with Sarah Kachur PharmD, MBA, BCACP, Executive Director of Strategy…

As health care organizations progress on their value-based care journeys, clinicians and other staff members are discovering just how uniquely difficult the transition can be. The main challenges they face include an increased administrative burden, data overload and resource-intensive processes for both risk adjustment and quality performance, all of which can take a serious toll…

The power of an accountable care organization (ACO) isn’t simply in the care provided or the savings realized — it’s also in stakeholders who recognize they’re part of a greater good. Michael Camacho, President of Accountable Care for Sound Physicians, was recently reminded of that by one of his board members who also happens to…

In 2023, 23 percent of adults in the U.S. reported experiencing a mental illness, totaling more than 58 million Americans. Of those 58 million, 46 percent reported not receiving treatment. During the same period, 17 percent of adults across the nation reported experiencing substance use disorder, yet three out of four did not receive treatment….