title: Accountability across the Continuum: The Participation of Postacute Care Providers in Accountable Care Organizations.
abstract: To examine the extent to which accountable care organizations (ACOs) formally incorporate postacute care providers.
  
  
  
  The National Survey of ACOs (N = 269, response rate 66 percent).
  
  
  
  We report statistics on ACOs' formal inclusion of postacute care providers and the organizational characteristics and clinical capabilities of ACOs that have postacute care.
  
  
  
  Half of ACOs formally include at least one postacute service, with inclusion at higher rates in ACOs with commercial (64 percent) and Medicaid contracts (70 percent) compared to ACOs with Medicare contracts only (45 percent). ACOs that have a formal relationship with a postacute provider are more likely to have advanced transition management, end of life planning, readmission prevention, and care management capabilities.
  
  
  
  Many ACOs have not formally engaged postacute care, which may leave room to improve service integration and care management.
authors.affiliation: The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: Carrie H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Colla
authors.affiliation: The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: Valerie A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Savannah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Bergquist
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Policy and Management, Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shortell
mesh_terms: D060866:Accountable Care Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D012941:Social Responsibility; D019467:Subacute Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States
keywords: Accountable care organizations; health care reform; postacute care