Navigant, Health Administration Press release new book on ACOs

Navigant (NYSE: NCI) and Health Administration Press today announced the release of a new book Accountable Care Organizations: Your Guide to Strategy, Design, and Implementation authored by Navigant healthcare professionals Marc Bard, MD and Michael Nugent.

Published by Health Administration Press, a division of the Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the book assesses a culmination of issues being dealt with by healthcare providers, physician practices, insurers, and government agencies in the movement to establish accountable care organizations ("ACOs") in today's healthcare delivery system. The book provides the structural blueprints, management skills, and cultural tools necessary to implement a successful ACO, and presents a number of concepts drawing upon evidence from the field on many facets of the ACO development journey.

"America is dealing with a broken healthcare system, and it's up to us [providers, consumers, the government] to restructure the system so we can be accountable for the totality of care," commented David L. Bernd, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer, Sentara Healthcare. "This book takes a hard look at what it takes to design and implement an effective accountable care organization."

The book covers a number of key topics that are critical for the start-up of ACOs, including:

• What does it take to become an ACO?
• What steps and actions should your organization take to implement an ACO strategy?
• How can organizational culture support your move to accountable care?
• How can you build a business plan to support an ACO strategy?
• What information technology is needed to implement an ACO strategy?

In conjunction with the publishing of the book, and in an effort to support healthcare organizations in evaluating the new ACO regulations recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Navigant will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 27. Bard and Nugent will be joined by Dr. Bruce Hamory, Executive Vice President and Managing Partner with Geisinger Health System, for a discussion on what it will take to design and implement an effective accountable care organization.