Supporting the Development of Accountable Care Organizations in the Hudson Valley

Current health care reimbursement structures generally reward volume rather than value, and do not encourage coordination or collaboration across unaffiliated organizations.

A promising, but new and largely untested, model called accountable care organizations (ACOs) has emerged as a way to slow rising health care costs and improve quality. An ACO formally brings together a set of non-affiliated providers, and holds them accountable for the cost and quality of care delivered to a defined population of patients. The Taconic Health Information Network and Community, Inc. (THINC) brought payers and providers to the table in a joint pursuit of models that would benefit both communities in the Hudson Valley region. The New York Health Foundation funded THINC to facilitate a planning process among payers, providers, and other key stakeholders.