ACO Vs PCMH Essay

ACO vs PCMH

With the recent trends in health care space, volume based and fee-for-service reimbursement have evolved and individuals are converging on the utilization of other health care models with low costs. The two prevailing models, Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are intended to improve the coordination and quality of care delivery system along with the reduction of care cost. They equally support application of electronic health records, patient enrollments, and the continuum of a well-ordered and more individualized patient ecosystem but their approaches to achieve few mutual goals vary to a certain degree.

PCMH attempts to achieve expanded access, enhanced patient safety, and improved chronic disease

They have to keep the expenses low. For this purpose, these organizations must include local hospitals, physicians and specialists and other primary care providers who have attained their recognition as PCMH. These all the members of ACO are in agreement to keep the costs down along with a maximum level of providing medical care to patients throughout their journey. These goals make the accountable organizations financially responsible for those patients along the care continuum. In contrast, PCMH has to only view and figure that an organization is able to better deliver the personalized health care. It makes a medical home be primarily accountable to itself while contributing in the development of medical care. But this does not mean at all that the medical homes can practice in a restricted manner for a very long time, rather it is important for all the health provider professional bodies to have valid understanding of the patient care plan and to be involved in this plan for its development and growth on a long term