Many health care delivery organizations perceive the need to improve health care quality and lower costs but lack specific strategies and tactics for implementing these changes. Accountable, a new book published by CRC Press,authored by Carl Couch, MD, MMM, former President of the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (BSWQA) and current Vice President of Baylor Scott & White Innovation Center,tells the story of the BSWQA, the accountable care organization (ACO) established and developed by Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH), the largest not-for-profit health care system in Texas.
This book discusses the requirements and framework needed to form and sustain an ACO, as well as the challenges and successes that BSWH has experienced in developing this entity to facilitate the transition to the pay-for-performance/shared savings model.
"In a time of consolidation and turmoil in health care, Couch and his colleagues provide a clear and concise game plan for bringing organizations together around real performance – improving outcomes and efficiency. This is a forward-looking yet practical book that touches on the full range of issues that come up in a typical day and a typical decade for emerging accountable care organizations. It is well-written, thoughtful, and credible – an important contribution," says Thomas H. Lee, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Press Ganey Associates, Inc. and part time professor at Harvard Medical School.
Accountability serves as the basis for a coming transformation in the way health care is delivered, and ACOs play a powerful role in driving that transformation. In order to improve health care quality, lower health care costs, and improve population health. Providers and all other stakeholders in the health care system must understand what it truly means to be accountable to their patients, their communities, and our society. A commitment to accountability that exists along the entire continuum of care will facilitate the delivery of the highest-quality, most cost-effective, and most coordinated care to the populations served.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
Nanette Myers
Email: Nanette.Myers@BaylorHealth.edu
Phone:214-265-3614
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com
