February 21, 2013 | 5 min read
The Affordable Care Act: Opportunities Arising from Accountable Care Organizations and Electronic Medical Records

Stephanie

As President Obama enters his 2nd term, the country will see many more mandates of his healthcare plan go into effect.  Two features of the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” that are gaining speed leading into 2013 are Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).  Both of these implementations are designed to improve quality and reduce costs.

To educate ourselves on ACOs in order to better serve our clients and candidates, The Execu|Search Group has asked expert Nicholas Bonvicino, MD, MBA, to offer us his insight.  He defines Accountable Care as, “The combination of two powerful and not entirely new concepts of health care management; The acceptance of responsibility for a population’s health status, and the coordination of care amongst and integrated network of care providers, aligned with common goals of improving quality, improving the patients care experience, and reducing the total cost of care for the population.”

In layman’s terms, this means that a healthcare organization that follows an ACO model will be accountable for the cost and quality of care both within and outside of the primary care relationship.  They must follow up, and make sure that the patient is getting the entire continuum of care that they need within their own practice, and with specialists.  This is different from a non-ACO because a non-ACO does not actively manage care; they are only responsible for what the patient has come in for.

Amanda Bleakney, Managing Director of Execu|Search’s Health Services division, expects to see new career opportunities arise from ACOs and EMRs.  “We’re already seeing a lot of new organizations being formed that are in need of new talent.”  She continues, “We’re going to continue seeing ACOs pop up because these organizations are being reimbursed for delivering high quality care.   As a result of these governmental incentives, we have seen that Case Managers and Quality Assurance professionals are in high demand at The Execu|Search Group.”

The provision that makes it mandatory to move all medical records to the cloud space also has its benefits for healthcare professionals in the job market.   Bleakney confidently believes that as these regulations begin to take effect, “Medical practices and hospitals will have an influx of hiring needs because they will need people to implement and manage their new Electronic Medical Record systems.”

Medical facilities will be in need of a copious amount of talent to fill newly created positions and departments, so Bleakney expects exciting new opportunities for healthcare professionals in 2013.  “Because these positions have been created in response to new laws, hiring managers will be looking for people who may not necessarily be experienced in what the job description calls for, but people who can adapt and learn new capabilities.  Therefore, these new jobs give healthcare professionals the ability to not only develop new skills but also forge a new career path.”

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