Live from the HIMSS Virtual Conference: Exploring the Accountability, Value and Sustainability of ACOs

I had the pleasure of moderating “Leveraging IT Adoption and Utilization to Achieve Meaningful Use,” presented by David Ehrenberger, MD, CMO, Integrated Physician Network (iPN), Avista.

This session, adeptly subtitled: Melting Pot Accountable Care Organization, is really a case study of what iPN learned on building its infrastructure for independent practices to realize the promise of healthcare reform to improve efficiency, patient safety and meeting meaningful use. The iPN includes independent private practices, a community hospital, and Clinica Family Health Services, a large federally qualified health center, in the north metro Denver area and serves 30 sites, 160 providers and 900 end users. It uses one EMR/practice management platform.

The unique case study presented today addresses IPN’s innovative approach to creating an organizational culture of collaboration that has motivated diverse, competing care sites to develop an interoperable data network. This session identified usability issues and other health IT selection criteria necessary to promote the goals of meaningful use.

The IPN developed the Triple Aim - population health, experience of care and per capita cost – to become a collaborative leadership organization to meet these criteria.

To become your community’s Triple Aim Integrator, follow these guidelines. 

1. Get organized: practice, IPA, community, hospital

2. Make the case for regional accountable care

3. Grow primary source data

4. Go digital: invest in the best you can

5. Understand the #1 rule of EHR adoption; then, just DO IT!

6. Create and ensure local support

7. Make your EHR a Quality + Analytics Tool

8. Learn from your data to effect change (look, share, leverage)

9. Commit to teamwork around quality (tools, systems, goals)

10. Go together, go public…

Share your comments or questions here on the HIMSS Blog.