The ACO Visit, From the Lens of a Physician
Posted by Nirandra Mahamitra, MD on November 24, 2017
Discussing the benefits of the ACO visits in practice for the patient and physician.
As Cooper begins its journey into the Accountable Care Organization model along with the scheduling of ACO visits in August of this year, I have had time to reflect on how this affects both patients and physicians. This is a wonderful opportunity for our patients, especially chronically ill patients, to obtain high quality care and to be able to have discussions with their physicians on issues that affect them. Patients have the opportunity to discuss topics such as wellness, home safety, hearing issues, and end-of-life planning. Patients may have felt that they have not had the opportunity to discuss these issues with their physicians previously in a sick visit.
As with all new endeavors, there is always apprehension of the unknown. However, having several teams in the organization working on this endeavor speaks to the team work involved. The Operations and Informatics teams are greatly appreciated, specifically regarding the creation and implementation of the ACO templates. The ACO templates have been optimized with point and click features and have undergone additional revisions based on faculty feedback. The newest feature, the ACO Sidebar, is very helpful to see which ACO measures are being met and which require further attention. In collaboration with the Call Center, an initiative was placed to reach out to ACO patients and have appointments blocked for scheduling ACO visits. This initiative has been helpful in providing access to our patients. As a busy provider, I am happy to see that the thoughts that we share have been taken into consideration by the administration.
I look forward to Cooper advancing the ACO Model, along with the ability to communicate better and to obtain a better picture of our patient’s health.
