ACO Watch: A Mid-Week Review

On the Wednesday, December 15th 2010 program at 11AM Pacific and 2PM Eastern, my guest commentator is L. Gordon Moore, MD, aka @lgordonmooremd on Twitter. Dr. Moore is a medical practice innovator, status quo disruptor, and thought leader in the field of direct medical practice, pioneering the 'exemplary primary care model' via Ideal Medical Practices. For more information, see: http://www.idealmedicalpractices.org/index.html. Dr. Moore is a compelling keynote speaker with a timely message, who previously directed the HelloHealth University, and selectively managed certain professional medical corporations. Much of the conversation around Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) tends to focus on the intentions of the more mature integrated delivery systems, i.e., Kaiser, Mayo, Geisinger, et al, the establishment health plan community as well as hospital or institutional health systems, yet due to some modest language written into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there is room for niche or even 'marginal' players up to step up an organize direct primary care practices as participants in the ACO industry. Some call it the 'Qliance clause', but bottom-line, the issue is about gaining eligibility (as a patient centric, albeit alternative delivery system) to be listed as an option in the emerging health insurance exchanges (HIE's) - though not a 'insurance product' per se. Please join us!