The ACO Show

Dr. Alan Story is a family physician practicing in Newton, North Carolina. In this week’s episode, he describes how his clinic, Newton Family Physicians has evolved over time to embrace a data-driven, population health approach to primary care. He also explains how Aledade helps independent providers like himself succeed under the ACO model by investing in their patients’ health, harnessing the power of collaboration, and making technology work for them.

Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) speak to Connie Altman, an implementation and training expert at Aledade. Drawing upon her background in practice management, billing and coding, she shares great advice on how primary care practices can provide the best patient experience and how team care can be the best care.

Chris Haeni discusses how he protects data as the Chief Information Security Officer at Aledade. Join us to hear how to avoid the biggest health data security threats, from phishing to spoofing to hacking, and the risks of carelessness and improper data sharing within an organization.

Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) speak to Dr. Danny Butler (@DannyB1984), a primary care physician from Paducah, Kentucky in the Aledade Kentucky ACO. Combining data and his dedication to his patients, Dr. Butler shares his experience of how an Accountable Care Organization has been good for the health of his patients and the success of his practice. He discusses why he joined an ACO and the important role that his staff has played in helping his practice excel at population health.

Edo Banach (@EdoBanach) is the President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. On this week’s episode, he explains Medicare's hospice benefit, the difference between hospice and palliative care, and how accountable care organizations can better coordinate with these services.

Geoff Huggins (@GeoffHuggins) is the Director of NES Digital Service (NDS) in Scotland. NDS was established by the Scottish Government in 2018 to standardize electronic health records across the country to improve health outcomes.  Geoff shares some of the lessons he has learned along the way about engaging citizens, clinicians, and government organizations in health care transformation.

All Accountable Care Organizations have a patient representative on their board of managers. John Sickler, a retired businessman, serves as the patient representative on the board of managers for the Freedom ACO, an Aledade ACO in suburban Philadelphia. He joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) to discuss his role on the board and how he helps the ACO promote evidence-based medicine and patient-centered care.

Professor George Crooks (@CrooksGeorge) is the CEO of the Digital Health and Care Institute, Scotland’s national innovation center for digital health care. On this week’s episode, he shares his vision of integrating Scotland’s fragmented health data platforms in order to enable health care providers to deliver higher quality care and empower individuals to take charge of their own health data. He describes the challenges he faces as he spearheads a major transformation of the health care system, some of which are unique to the UK, and others which will resonate with those of us living across the pond.

Jim Manzi is co-founder of Foundry.ai, a technology studio that creates artificial intelligence software companies, and is a member of Aledade’s board. He joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) and Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) to help us understand how machine learning, scientific methodology and experimentation can be used to help guide corporate business decisions.

Annalyn Whitt (@ALWhitt) is a Practice Transformation Specialist in the Aledade Mississippi ACO. In this week’s episode, she describes the origins and evolution of “Home for the Holidays,” a successful home-grown initiative that helps keep patients with preventable illnesses out of the emergency room and the hospital during the holiday season.