title: Post-acute integration strategies in an era of accountability.
abstract: The Institute of Medicine, in its 2001 Crossing the Quality Chasm report, recommended greater integration and coordination as a component of a transformed health care system, yet relationships between acute and post-acute providers have remained weak. With payment reforms that hold hospitals and health systems accountable for the total costs of care and readmissions, the dynamic between acute and post-acute providers is changing. In this article, we outline the internal and market factors that will drive health systems' decisions about whether and how they integrate with post-acute providers. Enhanced integration between acute and post-acute providers should reduce variation in post-acute spending.
authors.affiliation: Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, United States.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.affiliation: Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, United States; Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center, Providence, United States.
authors.forename: Amal N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.affiliation: Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, United States.
authors.forename: Jacqueline S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Zinn
authors.affiliation: Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, United States; Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center, Providence, United States.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mor
keywords: Hospitals; Post-acute; Readmissions; Skilled nursing