Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) and UnitedHealthcare have launched an accountable care organization (ACO) to improve how patient care is coordinated and delivered for more than 63,000 Northern California residents enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans. The ACO will help shift California's health care system to one that rewards quality and value instead of the volume of procedures performed. Specifically, the ACO will transition PAMF from a fee-for-service compensation model to a value-based approach in which the organization is rewarded for achieving certain evidence-based measures - such as hospital readmission rates, disease management and prevention, and patient safety - as well as total cost savings.

Through this collaboration, UnitedHealthcare will complement PAMF's own data by providing additional support to manage overall population health; including technology and information that will help the group's more than 500 primary care physicians take specific actions that improve quality and lower costs. Actionable data may include patient profiles, specific HEDIS performance measures on care and service, and real-time notification of ER and inpatient admissions. Patient navigators may also be used to support community-based care coordination, such as helping with transition plans after an individual is discharged from the hospital.

This approach will enable physicians to identify best practices for overall patient wellness and disease management.