Accountable care organization rules to debut in July

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the healthcare standards group that created the recognition program used by many commercial payers for Patient-Centered Medical Home programs, will release its rules for accountable care organizations (ACOs) in July.

ACOs are provider-based organizations that take responsibility for meeting the healthcare needs of a defined population. In early May, NCQA announced the completion of its year-long collaboration with 10 integrated delivery systems, independent practice associations, and multispecialty groups on a pilot project to create ACO standards. NCQA will use feedback from the pilot to revise the standards before it issues final ACO accreditation standards in July. The organization began working on ACO accreditation criteria in April 2010.

In April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services opened its proposed rule for ACOs for a public comment period.