Accountable Care Organizations and the Care Transfer Agreement (Coursework Sample)

Contractual Agreements in Healthcare
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Contractual Agreements in Healthcare
Care transfer agreements or contracts are example of contractual agreement that connect part of the healthcare and health insurance system. Care transfer agreement is a written agreement between different healthcare providers and it involves transferring a patient from one healthcare facility to the other or from one physician to another (Sokol‐Hessner et al., 2016). This contract constitutes length of care, insurance information, termination terms, and duties of the physician. Care transfer agreement can also include access to records, liability issues, governing laws, free choice of the patient, billing information, and medical judgment.
The part of this agreement that requires reform or regulation is duties of the physician. This aspect of care transfer agreements has constantly generated various issues during inter-hospital transfers. According to Kulshrestha and Singh (2016), physicians and patients on both transferring ends have reported frustration and frustration due inadequate of standardization. Inadequate standardization can result in communication breakdowns especially when complex handoffs take place. Another aspect of care transfer contract that requires reform is access to records. The problem with sharing patient records also results from poor rare standardization as well as poor communication. Generally, mots hospitals face difficulty sharing electronic medical records, thus delaying treatment or care delivery process.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) can be viable as risk bearing entities. ACOs meet all the characteristic of risk bearing entities. ACOs assume financial responsibility for a dis