JANESVILLE One of Rock County's two largest health care providers already has been selected to participate in a national program designed to provide Medicare recipients with better care at a lower cost.

The otherMercy Health Systemplans to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to become an "accountable care organization" in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Officials from both said the basis of the voluntary program is a delivery model they've been advocating and using for years.

Accountable care organizations are groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers that work together to coordinate and provide high quality care to their Medicare patients. The goal is to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time without unnecessary duplication of services and medical errors.

When an ACO meets benchmarks for care quality and efficiency, it will share in the savings it generates for the Medicare program.

"I think the model provided by ACOs is the way of the future," said Craig Samitt, president and chief executive officer of Dean Health System.

Earlier this month, Dean Clinic & St. Mary's Hospital ACO was one of 89 systems from around the country selected to participate in the program as an ACO.

"It's about delivering health care that is high quality, coordinated, more accessible and cost efficient," Samitt said. "Dean and St. Mary's has considered itself an ACO for some time. Medicare now will reward us for delivering the same type of care we have for years."

Javon Bea, Mercy's president and CEO, said that while his system has not yet applied for official designation as an ACO, it has been operating as one for decades.

Bea has been characterized in the industry as a pioneer in vertical integration. When he came to Janesville in 1989, he charted a course to turn a standalone hospital into a vertically integrated health care system that provides a wide range of services, including primary, specialty, urgent and emergency care; inpatient and outpatient hospitalization; home care; and insurance products.

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Health care changes coming