ACOs will Require Nursing Leadership in Patient-Centered, Quality Delivery System

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) take up only seven pages of the new health reform law, yet the term has become one of the hottest three-letter words in health care and the most talked-about provision. As the rush to implement ACOs is quickly underway, many clinicians – including most nurses – have no idea what this initiative is designed to accomplish or how nurses should position themselves for the future as this new model of care evolves.

The Aurora, Colo.-based American Sentinel University launched ‘Health Care Reform: Everything You Need to Know About Accountable Care Organizations,’ a four-part blog series to educate nurses and health care professionals about the basic concepts, policies and economic principles for ACOs and how it will affect them in their profession.

The blog series, to be published through March, covers such topics as:

- What are Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and why nurses need to know about them
- Potential pitfalls and criticisms nurses should consider
- How ACOs have shifted the spotlight to case management
- The shifting roles from case management to care management
- The difference between case management and disease management
- How accountable care is making case management a hot career choice for nurses