Page 34 - Bexar County Medical Society Purchasing Directory

UTHSCSA

continued from page 31

Ramon Cancino, M.D., M.Sc., is director of primary care for UT Health Physicians
and medical director at UT Health Hill Country. He specializes in family medicine.

sociated with the care and outcomes of specific patient populations. weight-loss program or consulting with a surgical specialist) as well
Although the structures can differ, the goals are the same: increase as the reason they follow up. Success in the Medicare Shared Savings
quality of care and aim to reduce unnecessary health care costs. Plan is contingent upon not only demonstrating value, but also on
Important to ACOs are a focus on developing a shared mental demonstrating patient attribution through consistency of visits and
model of care collaboration, data transparency and continuous im- utilization of resources within a single Medicare Tax Identification
provement. Teamwork and collaboration are demonstrated through Number. Furthermore, it is often the frontline staff—schedulers,
care management and integrated care across different care locations. front desk workers, benefits coordinators, nurses and medical assis-
Organizations collect and share data on process and outcomes met- tants—who are interacting with patients and providing the initial
rics via integrated health information technology, often a shared patient experience. Therefore, on-site physician and staff engage-
electronic health record. Teams use this data for continuous im- ment in making key clinical operations decisions as they relate to
provement using structured and standardized methods for improve- ACO metrics is critical.
ment and continual self-auditing for improvement in goals.
Most importantly, the success of an ACO hinges on practice en- At the forefront
gagement at all levels, especially in primary care. The reimburse- UT Health San Antonio aims to be the leading ACO in Central
ments an ACO receives are highly contingent on quality and cost and South Texas. The organization is forming an ACO, the UT
outcomes, which can be leveraged by a patient population that is Health San Antonio Regional Physicians Network, in July 2019. In
adherent, loyal and engaged in their own care. As a result, the lon- doing so, it has worked to engage all its physicians and staff in a
gitudinal relationships patients develop with primary care clinicians two-year process driven by physician leadership focused on the
are often the reason patients adhere to medical advice (such as re- Triple Aim.
ceiving a colonoscopy, seeing a clinical psychologist, joining a “As a physician-led organization, we wanted to be sure all our

34 San Antonio Medicine • April 2019