A New Hampshire-based accountable care organization created under the federal Affordable Care Act is expanding to include three more hospitals.
Under the accountable care organization model, networks of doctors and health care providers work together to provide high-quality, coordinated care for their patients while trying to limit unnecessary spending. Participants are required to meet quality standards for patient outcomes and other measures.
The "Allwell" accountable care organization for New Hampshire Medicare patients started in 2011 and included Dartmouth-Hitchcock and New London Hospital. Last week, Catholic Medical Center of Manchester, St. Joseph Healthcare of Nashua and Exeter Health Resources joined the organization. Together, they serve more than 46,000 Medicare patients.