ACOs in health reform decoded

Fragmentation and unnecessary testing are two of the hallmarks of medical care in the United States. They're also a major factor in what's driving the cost of healthcare through the roof. The Kaiser Family Foundation has just released its annual report on healthcare spending in the United States and found that $7,538 a year is now spent on each American. That's at least $2,535 more or 51% higher than Norway, the next largest per capita spender. The rate of growth in healthcare spending is also going up faster than any other industrialized nation. If this trend keeps up it won't be many years before healthcare accounts for more than a quarter of the nation's gross domestic product. Enter a new idea: The Accountable Care Organization, a key provision in the new federal healthcare law.