News release: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released proposed new rules to help doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers better coordinate care for Medicare patients through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs create incentives for health care providers to work together to treat an individual patient across care settings – including doctor’s offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. The Medicare Shared Savings Program will reward ACOs that lower health care costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and putting patients first. Patient and provider participation in an ACO is purely voluntary. The proposed new rules will help doctors, hospitals, and other providers form ACOs and are now available for public comment. HHS also announced it will hold a series of open-door forums and listening sessions during the comment period to help the public understand what the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency administering the ACO program, is proposing to do and to ensure that the public understands how to participate in the formal comment process.”