Employers & Brokers

As an accountable care organization (ACO), OSF HealthCare is changing the way health care is delivered and payors are changing the way they pay us for the care we deliver.

Health care providers have always lived in a fee-for-service environment; we received a payment each time we provided a service. But payors, both government and commercial, are quickly changing to pay us for the value we provide. This shift from "volume to value" is what it means to be an accountable care organization.

Pay for Performance

Government and commercial payors now base a large part of health care reimbursements on pre-determined quality and safety goals that must be achieved, documented, measured, reported, and improved upon. This is known as "pay for performance" or "shared savings."

If hospitals and health systems improve quality and safety scores and reduce cost, we all benefit from the reduction in cost. A percentage of that cost savings is paid back to these health systems in the form of an additional reimbursement.

Shared Risk Arrangements

其他支付方希望达成“共同风险”安排。在共享风险的安排中，如果质量和安全得分得到提高，卫生系统和付款人都能分享节省的费用，并获得额外的补偿。如果质量和安全改进目标没有实现，他们也要分担风险。这就减少了这些付款人的偿还费用。

Employer Benefits

Patients of the ACO can also be employees and their families as well.

As the ACO partners with patients to improve their overall health, work place improvements like reduced absenteeism and improved job performance often result.