The Federal Trade Commission will co-host a workshop on several issues associated with Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), which are authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to seek to deliver high-quality and efficient health care services to patients. Joining the FTC in hosting the workshop are the Centers for Medicare & and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

The workshop is free and open to the public and will be held at CMS Headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland on October 5, 2010. The workshop will address and solicit public comments on the legal issues raised by various ACO models being considered by health care providers. Physicians, physician associations, hospitals, health systems, payers, consumers and other interested parties are invited to participate.

The agencies will publish a Federal Register notice shortly that will include more in-depth explanation of the topics to be covered during the day-long workshop, including the antitrust, physician self-referral, anti-kickback, and civil and monetary penalty laws related to ACOs. The notice also will include information about how to register for the workshop.

Click here to access the Federal Register. Enter the appropriate words in the search box to locate the workshop notice when available.