Participants Will Learn Strategies to Achieve Fundamental Changes Necessary for Value-based Care

Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA-The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) announced today that it will launch the next phase of its Accountable Care Collaborative: Transforming to a Value-Based System of Care. Medical groups are invited to join this yearlong shared learning program. Phase II of the Collaborative will focus on the fundamental organizational, systems, and culture changes necessary for successful transformation to a value-based system of care, regardless of the path chosen—CMS’s Shared Savings Program, the Pioneer ACO Program, commercial ACOs, or other models yet to emerge.

“The goal is to create a rich collaborative experience providing participants with practical solutions and strategies specific to their situation,” said Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, president and chief executive officer at AMGA. “AMGA has been the leading proponent of accountable care for many years. In fact, our advocacy arm contributed substantially to the language that was used in the Medicare Shared Savings Plan. Our members are the models used to create value-based payment systems because they are the vanguard of the value-based care movement. AMGA is the only organization that can take you beyond the theoretical by bringing together actual case studies presented by medical group leaders with firsthand experience in providing accountable care to their patients.”

Many AMGA members have been preparing to become accountable care organizations for some time and are aware that the changes required are enormous. Through shared learning, AMGA’s Accountable Care Collaborative can help organizations achieve fundamental changes that will be required to succeed. For over a decade, AMGA has used learning collaboratives as a valuable tool for organizational performance improvement. Each collaborative creates a community of knowledge that helps participants accelerate systemic change and make lasting breakthroughs in quality, service, and efficiency. Through the collaborative, AMGA can leverage scarce resources and access to content experts and practice experience while supporting the learning community with dedicated e-forums, a members-only website, and monthly webinars. In 2011, AMGA launched two collaboratives focused on practical steps toward creating Accountable Care Organizations: a Development Collaborative and an Implementation Collaborative. The new Collaborative will build on their work and provide resources for continuing development.

AMGA will be holding an informational webinar 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET on Thursday, December 15, 2011. Click here to register.

The deadline to register for the new phase of the ACO Learning Collaborative is January 31, 2012. For more information on the new collaborative, click here.

The American Medical Group Association represents medical groups, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious medical practices, independent practice associations, and integrated healthcare delivery systems. AMGA's mission is to improve health care for patients by supporting multispecialty medical groups and other organized systems of care. More than 117,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, providing healthcare services for 110 million patients in 49 states (nearly one in three Americans). Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for these organizations, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs, publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org