Representatives from a number of accountable care organizations throughout the state and from the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) met on Sept. 19 at Wilmington Health/Physicians HealthCare Collaborative to compare notes and share ideas on the move toward value-based care in North Carolina. The NCMS is spearheading the quarterly collaborative meetings as well as helping to provide resources and toolkits for practices interested in accountable care through the Toward Accountable Care Consortium (TACC).
[See story in this issue of the Bulletin on Wilmington Health joining forces with area hospital and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to become the state’s first Accountable Care Alliance.]
The participants in the latest Collaborative gathering represented a variety of organizations at varying places along the ACO development spectrum. Wilmington Health/Physicians HealthCare Collaborative is a 150-member, multi-specialty, physician-owned group, which, according to its CEO Jeff James, is taking a “minimalistic approach to transformation to an ACO.” James shared the data they had collected thus far through their Medicare Shared Savings Plan participation, which began on January 1, 2013. The savings has been significant as have improved patient outcomes. Others chimed in with their experiences in data analysis as well as the impact of coding habits on that data.
NCMS Government Affairs staff spoke to the group about North Carolina’s Medicaid system and the Governor’s and legislature’s proposals to reform the system, and how their experiences as fledgling ACOs may serve as an example of ways to improve Medicaid for the state.