ACO Health IT Start-Up Costs Estimated At Up To $4 Million

A survey of health care executives revealed that ACOs currently in operation have start-up health information technology (IT) costs as high as $4 million to gain the data exchange and care coordination functionality needed to automate ACO processes. Executives of smaller ACOs are anticipating technology costs of more than $1 million for new systems implementation. The ACO executives estimated ongoing technology costs are estimated at $750,000 to $1.3 million. ACOs use information technology in seven key functional areas: revenue cycle and contract management, care coordination and management systems, rules/workflow engines and business intelligence, clinical analytics and . . .