Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs)
Entrepreneurial GPs have been looking at Vanguard care models for a while and a number of new models have emerged across the country
Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) are well known in the US but look set to become a feature of integrated care in the UK. Under the ACO model, primary, secondary and other care providers assume responsibility for the cost and quality of care for a defined population group. Whether they will be able to deliver will depend largely on how well the leaders of the various providers can work together to identify and then pursue a common goal, and how well clinicians can deliver services. Federations have provided GP practices with a platform to work at scale and collaborate successfully. It will take time for cultural barriers to break down, certainly between various service providers but also with commissioners.
Although likely to take time to develop, we can expect ACOs to start to feature on the NHS landscape.