Final answer:
The ACO delivery system aims to improve patient care quality and reduce healthcare costs by fostering collaboration among providers in the management of patient care and aligning incentives to focus on value rather than volume. This helps manage healthcare risks and limits overutilization of services, resulting in a more efficient and effective healthcare delivery.
Step-by-step explanation:
Intended Outcome of ACO Delivery System and Value-Based Care
The intended outcome of collaborations through an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) delivery system is to enhance patient care quality while reducing overall healthcare costs. This model is part of a broader shift towards value-based care, contrasting the traditional fee-for-service approach. In a fee-for-service system, providers are reimbursed for each service they deliver, potentially leading to unnecessary tests and procedures. Conversely, ACOs bring together various healthcare providers to coordinate care for a set population of patients, promoting preventive care and carefully managing chronic diseases.
ACOs aim to avoid adverse selection and moral hazard issues by aligning provider incentives with patient outcomes. Providers are encouraged to collaborate to achieve better health outcomes at lower costs rather than focusing on service volume. This model can potentially address adverse selection by offering high-quality, cost-effective care that attracts a balanced mix of low and high-risk patients, while mitigating moral hazard by discouraging overutilization of healthcare services.
The collaboration among providers in an ACO is designed to facilitate shared savings programs and performance-based payments, which reward providers for meeting specific benchmarks in care quality and cost-efficiency. In essence, the ACO model strives to achieve better care for individuals, better health for populations, and lower growth in expenditures.