Aligning Accountable Care Models With The Goal Of Improving Population Health

Policy makers and health care leaders are well aware that despite spending twice as much per capita on health care, the US leads amongst high-income countries in early mortality. Within the US, health disparities are widening and pervasive, with variations in life expectancy present across geographic scales (neighborhoods, counties, and states) and across racial and socioeconomic populations. The crisis of US life expectancy has drawn increasing attention in recent months, with the Washington Post publishing an extensive series and a commentary in the New York Times calling attention to the “scandal” that is US health care, but focusing on how chronic disease is contributing to premature mortality.

We argue here that a complete transition to global payment models, such as those employed by accountable care organizations, combined with a shift to population health-focused performance measures should be used to encourage health care organizations to play a leadership role in improving health and eliminating health inequities within the US population. We take this stance for three reasons.