Clinical, patient engagement key to ACO success

Implementing an accountable care organization is nearly impossible without high-quality clinical engagement, according to a panel of healthcare leaders at Friday's sixth annual National ACO Summit in the District of Columbia.

And that engagement requires clinical leadership among the workers who are directly involved in care delivery, including physicians, non-physician providers, clinical staff and clerical employees, said Terry McGeeney, M.D., president of Care Accountability, Inc., and a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, who served as the moderator of the panel.