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Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a practicing physician, has served
in various capacities at the Food and Drug Administration, including senior
adviser for medical technology; director of medical policy development; and,
most recently, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs. Dr.
Gottlieb has also served as a senior policy adviser at the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services.
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February 16, 2011
No. 3, February 2011
The Obama administration is pinning its hopes for controlling Medicare
costs on accountable care organizations (ACOs)--a system in which groups of
doctors are given responsibility for a large population of patients, with a
share of the doctors' reimbursement dependent on their ability to reduce
spending and improve clinical outcomes. The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to release regulations governing the framework for ACOs by the end of February. ACOs are supposed to offer incentives for doctors to improve the coordination of care. While this idea is not inherently wrong, the Obama team relies heavily on hospitals to develop these new organizations. Yet historically, most of the significant innovation in health care delivery has developed in for-profit companies, often started by entrepreneurs, and has aimed to move patient care away from costly hospital settings and into less expensive outpatient settings. But entrepreneurs are now exiting the health care services space because the Obama plan tilts the marketplace so heavily against their endeavors. The Obama team is forced to rely on hospitals as much by default as by design, but many hospitals are unlikely to succeed at running ACOs.
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BACK STORY READ is to allow YOU an opportunity to review some background information about the creation/design of the Affordable Health Care process. We will utilize processes shared for the Sponsor Partner design 2013-2016.
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Key points in Outlook:
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