Choosing the right big data analytics vendor is just as important as picking a great electronic health record, especially for accountable care organizations with value-based reimbursement on the line.

 By Jennifer Bresnick

June 09, 2016 - Selecting a vendor for an electronic health record, big data analytics system, or population health management tool can be a difficult process for a healthcare provider – and it only gets harder if that provider wants to participate in value-based care.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are founded on the ability to communicate with each other, coordinate services, and analyze the activities of their attributed patients. 

But since many ACOs are partnerships between providers and care sites that may not have worked closely together in the past, many ACOs find themselves juggling multiple technologies, varying levels of health IT sophistication, and vastly different vendors as they struggle to achieve their quality and revenue goals.

As Medicare and private payers both stress the importance of value-based reimbursement, the number of ACOs is continuing to rise.  New quality-based initiatives like MACRA, as well as a growing variety of attractive participation options from commercial payers and Medicare, have all prompted more providers to test the waters of accountable care.

In this article, HealthITAnalytics.com takes a look at some of the latest Definitive Healthcaredata about EHR adoption and big data analytics technology use among hundreds of ACOs across the country.

READ MORE: ACO Success Relies on Population Health Management Tools