What Does IT Take for a Provider to Succeed in the ACO REACH Model?

What inspired you to pursue a career in healthcare in the first place? For many providers, helping people be healthier is what ignited their passion and drives them to this day. If you feel this way, congratulations—you already have what it takes to succeed as a provider in the ACO REACH model. However, that doesn’t mean making the transition to a Value-Based Care (VBC) model from a traditional fee-for-service (FFS) model will be easy. In this post, we’ll discuss the top traits and characteristics of successful providers in the ACO REACH model, along with tips for making the transition as seamless and simple as possible.

How “bedside manner” translates to ACO REACH model success

The same skills and strengths that make you an outstanding doctor can help you succeed in the transition to ACO REACH and VBC. Good people skills go a long way when interacting with patients and colleagues alike. In addition, qualities such as open-mindedness, a growth mindset, the ability to accept feedback and a collaborative attitude are essential for a successful ACO REACH model provider to possess.

Change the way you look at change

We’ve all heard the phrase “thinking outside the box” so often that we’re sick of it. But it is a cliche for a reason: the ability to think differently and work outside your comfort zone is vital in just about any field. As a provider in an ACO REACH care model, you’ll find that the ability to flip the script and try something new will serve you well.

This is where ilumed can help. Through our clinical, operations, and concierge teams, we’re here to provide support and guidance to providers who are changing to an ACO REACH model. We’ve got decades of experience working with healthcare professionals and understand how best to support you so you can keep doing what you do best—caring for patients.

Which one of these providers are you?

Throughout our experiences with helping healthcare practices transition from FFS to VBC models, we tend to encounter three types of providers: those who are all in on making the change from day one, those who are experiencing burnout and frustration from a broken healthcare system, and those who are a bit more resistant to making the change.

The providers who embrace the change right off the bat tend to come to the process with a firm understanding of ilumed’s role in the transition, our core objectives and how we can help them succeed from the beginning. These early adopters see the value of AI-assisted medicine. Their enthusiasm for the model drives organizational change, inspiring the rest of the staff to meet the challenge of transition head-on.

Providers who are ambivalent about transitioning to an ACO REACH model are typically bogged down by unnecessary paperwork and disillusioned with the churn-and-burn of seeing patients in a reactive setting. After seeing how the “work smarter, not harder” approach that accompanies the ACO REACH model can give them time to put the focus back on their patients, they become excited to learn how ilumed can benefit them.

Interestingly, the providers who initially resist making a change frequently become some of our biggest supporters, once they are able to admit that the way they’ve been doing things hasn’t been effective. As the more resistant providers begin to see the difference a VBC model can make in their practice and understand what ilumed is working to accomplish, they often become our greatest allies and evangelists.

Data-driven healthcare and the ACO REACH model

Engagement is critical for provider success in the ACO REACH model, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle. Providers must also have an adequate technology infrastructure, as well as an openness to the support ilumed provides from a technological standpoint. Our BrainStream platform uses data to assess patient risk. Providers can use these metrics to monitor medication adherence and pinpoint social determinants of health such as food insecurity, transportation barriers, and more, helping them fill gaps in care and work toward improving population health.

Get back to what first inspired you

In addition to its many benefits for patients, the DCE model can benefit providers who want to give their patients better care than the broken system allows. While providers are, in essence, small business owners, they often feel more like employees than entrepreneurs under the transactional essence of the FFS model.

Since proactive medicine is at the heart of the ACO REACH model, providers can spend more time listening to and developing relationships with their patients. Also, since care is happening at the highest level, the ACO REACH model can decrease liabilities and bring greater financial rewards in addition to the priceless emotional reward providers receive from getting to do what they love most. 

Transitions are hard. ilumed makes them easier.

ilumed has spent decades teaching physicians the business side of medicine. We explain the “why” of various aspects of the ACO REACH model in interactive two-way conversations with providers to increase their comfort level and build confidence. Our BrainStream platform also increases providers’ success with the data-driven ACO REACH model, allowing them to ask the right questions and increase the quality of the time spent face to face with their patients. Best of all, providers can kiss charting at home goodbye—the time they used to spend working after hours can now be used for the self-care and decompression time they need and deserve.

Making a change isn’t always easy, especially for providers who have been in practice for years or even decades. However, the benefits that both you and your patients will receive will certainly outweigh any obstacles and challenges that come with stepping outside your comfort zone. ilumed is here to help you leave the FFS model behind and embrace the future of healthcare.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you succeed in the ACO REACH model.