WASHINGTON – According to the California Association of Physician Groups, Accountable Care Organizations could help control healthcare costs “by transcending the old model of fee-for-service charges by doctors and accelerating ‘outcome-based’ medicine and adoption of health information technology.”

Leaders from California’s physicians groups are in Washington this week meeting with members of Congress to offer their experience with ACOs, which they consider a key element to healthcare reform.

According to officials, ACOs have worked in California for two decades, dealing with issues ranging from consumer protections to financial solvency standards.

“California’s physician groups have been working in an integrated, accountable system to create improved outcomes for patients, and we can offer the road map for how to implement this as part of the national health reform package now being negotiated,” said Donald H. Crane, president and CEO of the California Association of Physician Groups.

“Of concern to us ... is the latest proposal to limit use of ACOs to a pilot project,” said Crane. “People are losing their jobs, their savings and their healthcare coverage, so when the Congressional Budget Office estimates the savings of an ACO pilot program at $2.3 billion, it seems timid and short-sighted to not use the best practices that are out there and available to implement ACOs much more broadly within the Medicare system.”

Also on the agenda for the physician groups is discussion about fundamental changes to the Medicare Advantage program and how to apply best practices from the coordinated care services that have shown a proven track record of reduced hospitalizations, better outcomes and healthier patients.

More than any other population group, Medicare patients need personalized services that improve coordination and prevent complications from chronic diseases, said group officials. Recent research from Johns Hopkins shows that this reduces costly hospitalizations by up to 27 percent.

“It’s incomprehensible that policy leaders would go to the unnecessary expense of disrupting continuity of care by sending patients back into a self-directed fee-for-service system where the government will have to spend money to re-create medical homes that our medical groups are already providing,” said Crane.