Ama Policy

Due Diligence for Physicians and Practices Joining an ACO with Risk Based Models (Up Side and Down Side Risk) D-385.953

03/13/2019
Risk—Physicians Taking

1. Our AMA wil advocate for the continuation of up side only risk Medicare Shared Savings ACO (MSSP ACO) program as an option from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, particularly for physician owned groups.

2. Our AMA will develop educational resources and business tools to help physicians complete due diligence in evaluating the performance of physician-led and hospital integrated systems before considering consolidation. Specific attention should be given to the evaluation of transparency on past savings results, system finances, quality metrics, physician workforce stability and physician job satisfaction, and the cost of clinical documentation software.

3. Our AMA will evaluate the characteristics of successful physician owned MSSP ACOs and participation in alternative payment models (APMs) to create a framework of the resources and organizational tools needed to allow practices to form virtual ACOs that would facilitate participation in MSSP ACOs and APMs.

 

Policy Timeline

Res. 802, I-18