About this Assignment

Healthcare finance is a complicated topic that involves multiple players and organizations all working together with one overarching goal in mind: the improvement of patient care. In this course, you learned about various organizational structures in healthcare and the purposes of financial reporting in healthcare. You also became familiar with the various types of health insurance and reimbursement in the United States, along with the current transition to value-based reimbursement.

For this assignment, imagine that you are a doctor at a mid-sized community clinic. Dr. Peterson, a doctor in your practice, suggests creating an accountable care organization (ACO) with other hospitals and healthcare providers to provide quality healthcare to Medicare patients. The other doctors in the practice are not too sure about this, mostly because they don't understand what an ACO is and what function it serves. Since you are the most junior physician on the staff and just one year out of medical school, Dr. Peterson nominates you to write a memo to the other staff members that will address their concerns.

Your goal for this assignment is to draft a clear and concise memo of at least 1,000 words , addressed to the other doctors in your clinic, explaining the goals, objectives, and purposes of ACOs and why your clinic should consider forming one.

Assignment Specifics

Make sure that your memo includes the following elements:

1. A clear definition of ACOs, including their objectives, purposes, and why they are necessary. This section should also include the history behind ACOs.
2. Examples of other ACOs and how they have been successful. Make sure to use specific, concrete examples to analyze how specific ACOs have served their patients and community.
3. Any potential challenges or disadvantages posed. Make sure to anticipate, address, and rebut any challenges or issues your clinic may face in forming an ACO.

Wrap up your memo with a few concise statements about why this is the best step for your clinic to take.

Related Lessons

The following lessons from the course may help you with this assignment.

• Accountable Care Organizations: Definition & Functions
• Medical Practice: Types & Examples
• Comparing Financial & Managerial Accounting

Using Sources

Along with relevant Study.com course materials, your memo must include at least two credible, scholarly sources from outside the course. At least one of these sources must be from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal. The sources must be cited using APA format and should include a mix of both primary and secondary sources.

As a reminder, primary sources are those that report on the original results of the experiment or study, while secondary sources include comments, discussions, or observations about primary sources. Make sure to assess any source you use for validity and reliability, whether they are primary or secondary. For example, Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source (although the sources listed in the articles may be reliable).