Making Sense of ACOs: A Guide for Nurse Leaders

The upward spiraling cost and declining quality of health care in America contributed to the political environment that supported the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010.1 Although imperfect, the ACA challenged our health care system to provide safe, high-quality, and person-centered care. Historically, the care delivery model in the United States has been fragmented, with limited coordination between providers of care, leading to concerns with cost, quality, and access.2 Consensus among many providers, payers, patients, purchasers, and other stakeholders in the health care system is that efforts to deliver person-centered care have been stymied, in large part, by a payment system that is oriented largely toward volume, as opposed to value for patients and caregivers.3