Dr. Jeff Goldsmith Addresses the Unintended Consequences of ACOs

Jeff Goldsmith, PhD, President, Health Futures, Inc, Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, says that the biggest barrier that accountable care organizations (ACOs) face is the lack of collaboration between physician communities and hospitals. "You are trying to create a managed care environment without a lot of the tools or values that promote effective managed care activity," said Dr Goldsmith.

Dr Goldsmith thinks that The ACO is viewed as a collective effort with no competition in its model. Patients will not have the choice to either be in an ACO or not, and there will be no financial incentives to choose an ACO. "So, I don't think the issue of choice played that much of a role, and if you don't have choice you don't have competition."

This video was taken at AHIP's ACO Summit in Washington, DC on May 15, 2013.