The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released its final regulations for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Under the Affordable Care Act, ACOs, which are groups of health care providers, have the opportunity to share in Medicare savings derived from improvements in the quality and efficiency of care. R eview the Fund ACO publications below for more information. 

Four Health Care Organizations' Efforts to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Costs, A. D. Van Citters, B. K. Larson, K. L. Carluzzo et al., The Commonwealth Fund, January 2012.

The Final Rule for the Medicare Shared Savings Program, M. A. Zezza, The Commonwealth Fund, December 2011.

Accountable Care Organization Final Regulations Give Health Care Providers More Flexibility, M. Zezza and S. Guterman,The Commonwealth Fund Blog, October 2011.

Expanding the Options for Accountable Care Organizations: The Pioneer Model, Parts I and II, M. Zezza and S. Guterman,The Commonwealth Fund Blog, October 2011.

High Performance Accountable Care: Building on Success and Learning from Experience, S. Guterman, S. C. Schoenbaum, K. Davis, C. Schoen, A.-M. J. Audet, K. Stremikis, and M. A. Zezza,The Commonwealth Fund, April 2011.

What Are the Characteristics of a Successful Shared Savings Program?, M. Zezza and S. Guterman, The Commonwealth Fund Blog, April 2011.

Better to Best: Value-Driving Elements of the Patient Centered Medical Home and Accountable Care Organizations, Health2 Resources, Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, The Commonwealth Fund, and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, March 2011.

 On the Road to Better Value: State Roles in Promoting Accountable Care Organizations  , K. Purington, A. Gauthier, S. Patel, and C. Miller, The Commonwealth Fund and the National Academy for State Health Policy, Feb. 2011.

"Accountable Care Organizations: Accountable for What, to Whom, and How?" E. S. Fisher and S. M. Shortell, Journal of the American Medical Association, Oct. 20, 2010 304(15):1715–16.

The Vermont Accountable Care Organization Pilot: A Community Health System to Control Total Medical Costs and Improve Population Health, J. Hester, J. Lewis, and A. McKethan, The Commonwealth Fund, May 2010.

Toward High-Performance Accountable Care: Promise and Pitfalls, K. Davis and S. Schoenbaum, The Commonwealth Fund Blog, September 2010.

Starting On the Path to a High Performance Health System: Analysis of the Payment and System Reform Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, K. Davis, S. Guterman, S. R. Collins, K. Stremikis, S. Rustgi, and R. Nuzum, The Commonwealth Fund, September 2010.

Health Care Opinion Leaders’ Views on Delivery System Innovation and Improvement, K. Stremikis, K. Davis, and A.-M. Audet, The Commonwealth Fund, July 2010.

"Primary Care and Accountable Care—Two Essential Elements of Delivery-System Reform," D. R. Rittenhouse, S. M. Shortell, E. S. Fisher, New England Journal of Medicine, published online Oct. 28, 2009.

Organizing for Higher Performance: Case Studies of Organized Delivery Systems, D. McCarthy and K. Mueller, The Commonwealth Fund, July 2009.

Hill Physicians Medical Group: Independent Physicians Working to Improve Quality and Reduce Costs, T. Emswiler, L.M. Nichols, The Commonwealth Fund, March 2009.

Organizing the U.S. Health Care Delivery System for High Performance, A. Shih, K. Davis, S. Schoenbaum, A. Gauthier, R. Nuzum, and D. McCarthy, The Commonwealth Fund, August 2008.

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