AHRQ Views Blog: Compendium Updates Show Health Systems’ Growing Participation in Accountable Care Organizations

Enhancements to AHRQ’s Compendium of U.S. Health Systems now allow researchers, policymakers and others to learn which systems are augmenting patient services by offering health insurance plans or participating in Accountable Care Organizations or Medicare bundled payment programs. Compendium updates are highlighted in a new blog post by AHRQ’s Dan Miller, M.S., a social sciences researcher, and Mike Furukawa, Ph.D., a senior economist and director of the agency’s Comparative Health System Performance Initiative. The initiative’s compendium, launched in 2017, offers insights into the increasing consolidation among the nation’s 626 healthcare systems. Updates are aimed at helping to explore how consolidation may be affecting quality and cost. AHRQ has developed four data highlight publications that summarize the new data and identify trends about alternative payment plans and insurance products. Access the blog post.