The Home Care Alliance Board of Directors approved an official position for the organization on Accountable Care Organizations, including guiding principles that the home care industry would like to see included as payment reform moves closer to a reality.
To support a care model that is appropriately inclusive of a robust community health care network, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts believes that the Accountable Care Organization design must:
• Recognize the value of true clinical integration between acute and post acute care
• Consider carefully the current composition of the home health care industry, their unique patterns of care delivery and their dual role as providers of both post acute services and (Medicaid) long term care, and
• Include in the infrastructure design some explicit direction on the use of home health services that supports inclusion of existing quality providers and avoids unintentional development by ACOs of duplicative community care services.
Download the ACO position document for more information and contact the Alliance with any questions or comments.
Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.
Think Home Care Blog 
Many seem to agree on the need to find a better approach than fee-for-service reimbursement. If accountable care organizations can adopt the risk-management know-how of health plans and integrate patient care using technology and best clinical practice, they may be part of the solution. See http://www.healthcaretownhall.com/?p=1732