Holy Name Medical Center Partnership Approved by Feds

A plan for Holy Name Medical Center, which was approved by federal officials this month, is expected to eliminate redundancies and cut costs for care, according to a report on NJ.com.

The hospital's Accountable Care Organization (ACO) was one of six approved in New Jersey this month by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service and is the second ever in Bergen County, according to the report.

Holy Name's ACO includes 140 doctors from the hospital's staff. Patients may not notice much difference in their care, but doctors will be communicating more, have easier access to patients' medical history and avoid redundant treatments, according to the report.

The ACO will face some challenges. It may not be easy to get 140 doctors to agree on what treatments are the most cost-effective, and not all doctors use electronic records, according to the report.

Holy Name's new ACO will be held responsible to 33 standards for care, and any savings the hospital makes under the system will also be passed on to Medicare, according to the report.