National Survey of Accountable Care Organizations

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) represent a critical shift away from a traditional fee-for-service payment model toward a model which encourages health care providers to deliver care in a way that reduces costs while improving the quality of care. The ACO model has been adopted by Medicare, state Medicaid plans, and commercial insurers, with over 32 million people in the U.S. now receiving care from an ACO.

The National Survey of ACOs (NSACO) is a comprehensive longitudinal survey of ACOs first fielded in 2012. Now on the fourth wave of the survey, The Dartmouth Institute and our partner organizations—University of California, Berkeley; the Commonwealth Fund; the National Institute of Mental Health; and the California Health Care Foundation—have used the data collected from the NSACO to author over 30 papers describing the attributes and results of these innovative organizations. Analysis of NSACO data is used to guide the decisions of healthcare leaders and policymakers about the future of ACOs and payment reform in a constantly evolving care landscape.

Project details:

The NSACO gathers input from executives and senior leadership across hundreds of ACOs. The survey is designed to cover a wide array of topics, including organizational structure, patient activation and engagement, and behavioral health, among many others. Dartmouth Institute researchers review the survey data in depth to identify meaningful patterns and trends, as well as the effect of new innovations and programs on patient outcomes. To analyze NSACO data more fully, our ACO research team and partner organizations leverage data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), using millions of records analyzed by the Dartmouth Institute’s Data Analytic Core.