>The Valley Hospital Forms Regional Accountable Care Organization in Partnership with Atlantic Health System
• Consumers benefit from improved care coordination and greater emphasis on preventive care
• Primary care doctors are rewarded for improving patient health and lowering medical costs
RIDGEWOOD, NJ, JANUARY 23, 2012 – The Valley Hospital announced today that it has formed the Valley Health System Regional Accountable Care Organization and has partnered with Atlantic Health System to submit an application for the Atlantic Health System ACO, LLC, to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The Atlantic ACO, of which Valley’s ACO is a regional division, was formed to improve patient care quality, reduce costs, and streamline health care delivery. ACOs are considered by many to be essential to the realization of national health care reform and an integral part of an overall vision of better and more affordable care for Medicare beneficiaries and heightened efficiency among physicians, hospitals, and insurers.
Touted as one of the “10 ACOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review, the Atlantic ACO application includes participation from more than 1,200 physicians, including more than 150 primary care physicians, 50 nurse practitioners and 10 ancillary care providers in five regions: Sussex, Morris, Union, Somerset, and Bergen counties. Member hospitals, which include Atlantic Health System’s Morristown, Overlook, and Newton Medical Centers, in addition to Valley, will work together to improve the quality of health care and reduce the individual and clinical health care costs for the Medicare population served in these regions. Once the application is accepted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Atlantic ACO will begin operating on April 1.
“We are very excited to be in the forefront of leading the charge in shaping the future of health care in New Jersey and the nation” said Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of Valley Health System and The Valley Hospital. “This organization will bring together four hospitals, hundreds of doctors, home health care agencies and skilled nursing facilities in a way never done before in New Jersey. Working together to provide coordinated, high-quality care helps ensure that patients get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services.”
Richard Lucanie, M.D., an internal medicine physician on Valley’s Medical Staff, serves along with Audrey Meyers as Valley’s representatives to the Atlantic ACO Board. “The ACO changes the model of care from one that rewards providers for treating illness, to one that rewards providers for maintaining or improving patients’ overall health,” Dr. Lucanie said. “Since the
majority of Medicare recipients live with one or more chronic illnesses, the ability to better manage those diseases will result in a better quality of life for patients. Through better coordination of care, patients will benefit by avoiding duplicity of testing, avoiding preventable hospital admissions, and realizing a reduction in overall healthcare costs.”
“Once the application to form the ACO is accepted, the Atlantic ACO becomes ‘accountable’ for this region’s enrolled Medicare population,” said David J. Shulkin, MD, president, Morristown Medical Center, vice president, Atlantic Health System, and administrator, Atlantic ACO. “Over the last year, we have worked to develop the framework and relationships necessary for these patients to receive better coordination of their care and a higher level of quality health care services. Atlantic Health System’s hospitals are at the forefront of clinical care. Now, as health care reform re-shapes the landscape, we are also taking a leadership role by planning for the future.”
ACOs benefit patients in myriad ways, including giving them a more significant role in guiding their own care, reducing duplicative tests, and offering greater incentives for disease prevention. The Atlantic ACO offers an increased emphasis on prevention, evidence-based treatment options for better outcomes, broader physician access, and improved coordination of insurance coverage that will all ultimately promote wellness.
Both Atlantic Health System and The Valley Hospital have been exploring new methods of improving quality of care while controlling unnecessary costs over the last few years by participating in the Medicare Gainsharing trial, which encourages physician and hospital collaboration to make patients’ hospital stays more efficient. The new ACO is another way for both organizations to drive efforts to improve health care delivery in the regions they serve.
