Delivery System Redesign

More than nine of 10 leaders in health and health care policy believe the Affordable Care Act sets the right course for health reform, according to a new survey by the Commonwealth Fund.

This report examines the development of the ACO model, focusing on Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

The brief assesses middle-ground solutions to payment and delivery system reform by looking at transitional payment reforms that enable health care providers to deliver improvements in cost and quality to payers and patients while the providers foucus on building capacity to transition into a comprehensive delivery reform system that meet their needs.

Principal Findings. Among high-cost beneficiaries, health was the predominant predictor of costs, with most physician and practice and many market factors (including provider supply) insignificant or weakly related to cost.