MedHOK Releases 360ACO(R) to Meet Unique Care Management, Quality Reporting Needs of ACOs

TAMPA, FL--(Marketwire - Jun 29, 2011) - MedHOK, a leading provider of clinical and quality software to the healthcare industry, announced today that it has released 360ACO®, a software solution tailored to meet the specific information and analytics needs of accountable care organizations (ACOs). The software allows ACOs to aggregate and exchange actionable patient data to provide optimum care and quality reporting in compliance with proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rules.

"ACOs are required to meet a number of quality standards and prove their cost-effectiveness as an organization, metrics that will be difficult to achieve without the ability to effectively share and manage information between providers, hospitals and other caregivers," said Anil Kottoor, president and CEO, MedHOK. "For that to happen, ACOs must utilize technology to automate many of the care management functions and quality measures required by CMS. That is what 360ACO does. It provides the comprehensive information ACOs need to achieve benchmarks and benefit from shared savings. Most importantly, it delivers a 360-degree view of the patient that drives enhanced quality and reduced costs."

A major component of a successful ACO is the ability to share information within the organization and across the patient's continuum of care. 360ACO provides a hosted Internet-based solution that is easily implemented and is the perfect solution for real-time information sharing between the ACO and its physicians without requiring a major investment in IT infrastructure.

While the rules are not final, it appears that ACOs will be required to receive enrollment, eligibility and demographic data on assigned beneficiaries. Through 360ACO, organizations can accept this data file from CMS and process it into their systems. Further, because Medicare beneficiaries are still able to access care anywhere in the fee-for-service system, ACOs must be able to receive and analyze claims information from CMS to ensure they have a complete picture of their patient's care. 360ACO is equipped to receive this beneficiary data, including Medicare Parts A, B and D encounters, and optimize it for use by ACO providers in a meaningful way.

To improve patient care and maintain or lower costs, an ACO is responsible for managing the assigned beneficiary population through utilization, case and disease management. 360ACO streamlines this process by providing assessments, care plans, disease management modules and case management tools optimized for use by individual participants, including physicians, nurses and case managers. By providing access to relevant patient information, providers can follow members to monitor their care and costs.

ACOs must also meet stringent quality reporting requirements if they are to share in any savings. This necessitates continuous data monitoring to identify and correct care gaps that can impact an ACO's ability to meet established benchmarks. 360ACO provides the analytic tools necessary to track all mandated measures (CAPHS, PQRS, NQF) to comply with CMS reporting requirements. The product contains real-time monitoring and alerts to notify users when a benchmark is in danger of not being met.

Other functionality includes generation of correspondence notifying beneficiaries of care gaps and other quality information, which eases the communication burden on the ACO. Additionally, 360ACO contains a provider portal that facilitates information exchange, care collaboration and issue resolution. The use of a real-time score card allows for the monitoring of activities and workflows to ensure the timeliness of care. Finally, audit tools allow the ACO to see what information was changed, when and by whom and enable reporting of all activities and fields within the system.

"By driving real-time sharing of clinically integrated, actionable patient information between providers and delivering the analytic tools required for real-time performance monitoring, 360ACO helps organizations meet CMS' rigorous standards and achieve the cost reductions and quality improvements necessary for success," said Kottoor.

About MedHOK
Based in Tampa, Fla., MedHOK (www.medhok.com) offers cloud-based software solutions that eliminate silos and organize client-specific patient/member data into relevant and actionable information that enables physicians, ACOs, PCMHs, payers and TPAs to manage and measure care against national quality standards for optimal outcomes. Information can be shared in real time with all healthcare stakeholders. MedHOK solutions address disease management and care coordination, clinical quality and utilization review, and quality and financial measures. ICD-10 compliant and HIE-ready, MedHOK solutions are web-based, rapidly deployed and securely accessible on any device. The company's 360Measures holds full 2011 HEDIS® certification.