5 Things About Aledade (and Its ACOs)

As the healthcare industry moves from volume to value, new healthcare delivery models are being tested and promoted, and CMS has put a lot of faith into the accountable care organization (ACO). So has Aledade, a company that just celebrated its second anniversary and works to guide primary care physicians as they create and build ACOs in order to improve quality of care while bringing down costs.

Here are 5 things to know about Aledade.

1. There are some heavy hitters backing up Aledade

The company was founded by Farzad Mostashari, MD, the former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT). Mostashari’s co-founders are Mat Kendall, who has years of experience working with primary care physicians on adopting and implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems, and Edwin Miller, who has developed more than 30 EHR products across healthcare.

And there is some big bucks backing Aledade, which is venture funded. In June 2015, Aledade raised a Series B Funding Round of $30 million.

2. Aledade is in 11 states

Aledade has expanded its geographic coverage with new partnerships in Nevada/Utah, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. These 11 states cover 400 primary care physicians, and Aledade is on track to reach nearly 1000 physicians by the end of 2016, according to Mostashari.

“Together, we are taking accountability for over 100,000 patients’ care, and nearly a billion dollars of annual medical costs,” he wrote.

3. Changing how care is delivered

Nearly all (95%) of Aledade’s practices (there are more than 110 in total) provide 24/7 patient access to an on-call doctor. In addition, all of the practices offer same or next-day appointments for patients with urgent needs.

In celebration of its second anniversary, Aledade also announced that its ACOs averaged a 251% increase in preventive care visits and a 175% increase in transitional care services. This resulted in a decrease in hospital admission rates.

4. The importance of health IT

With Mostashari behind the wheel, it’s no surprise that health IT and practice interoperability is important. Aledade has joined with other leading health organizations to form the GetMyHealthData Initiative, which has commitments from organizations to take concrete steps to make it easier for patients and families to access and use health information electronically.

5. A partner, not a vendor or employer

The company partners with primary care physicians to build and lead ACOs so that the doctors can remain independent and not become employees through necessity.

“We founded Aledade on the belief that physician-led ACOs can be the leading edge of health care transformation in the United States,” Mostashari wrote in a blog post 2 years ago. “Our doctor partners share that belief and are equally eager to prove that hypothesis right.”