Athenahealth is joining with a regional physician practice management and population health management firm, Privia Health, to link their technologies and operations to produce a more effective accountable care organization. The ACO model, promoted by Medicare as one plank of the Affordable Care Act and also being adopted by commercial insurers, tries to shift financial incentives away from providing more care toward providing better care more efficiently. In the Washington, D.C., region, Privia is both enticing doctors to join a medical practice built for this model, Privia Medical Group, and offering those who choose to remain independent a chance to join its ACO, the Privia Quality Network.
