124 STAT. 396 PUBLIC LAW 111–148—MAR. 23, 2010 ‘‘(B) The ACO shall enter into an agreement with the Secretary to participate in the program for not less than a 3-year period (referred to in this section as the ‘agreement period’). ‘‘(C) The ACO shall have a formal legal structure that would allow the organization to receive and distribute pay- ments for shared savings under subsection (d)(2) to partici- pating providers of services and suppliers. ‘‘(D) The ACO shall include primary care ACO profes- sionals that are sufficient for the number of Medicare fee- for-service beneficiaries assigned to the ACO under sub- section (c). At a minimum, the ACO shall have at least 5,000 such beneficiaries assigned to it under subsection (c) in order to be eligible to participate in the ACO program. ‘‘(E) The ACO shall provide the Secretary with such information regarding ACO professionals participating in the ACO as the Secretary determines necessary to support the assignment of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries to an ACO, the implementation of quality and other reporting requirements under paragraph (3), and the determination of payments for shared savings under subsection (d)(2). ‘‘(F) The ACO shall have in place a leadership and management structure that includes clinical and adminis- trative systems. ‘‘(G) The ACO shall define processes to promote evi- dence-based medicine and patient engagement, report on quality and cost measures, and coordinate care, such as through the use of telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and other such enabling technologies. ‘‘(H) The ACO shall demonstrate to the Secretary that it meets patient-centeredness criteria specified by the Sec- retary, such as the use of patient and caregiver assessments or the use of individualized care plans. ‘‘(3) QUALITY AND OTHER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall determine appropriate measures to assess the quality of care fur- nished by the ACO, such as measures of— ‘‘(i) clinical processes and outcomes; ‘‘(ii) patient and, where practicable, caregiver experience of care; and ‘‘(iii) utilization (such as rates of hospital admis- sions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions). ‘‘(B) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—An ACO shall submit data in a form and manner specified by the Secretary on measures the Secretary determines necessary for the ACO to report in order to evaluate the quality of care furnished by the ACO. Such data may include care transi- tions across health care settings, including hospital dis- charge planning and post-hospital discharge follow-up by ACO professionals, as the Secretary determines appro- priate. ‘‘(C) QUALITY PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—The Sec- retary shall establish quality performance standards to assess the quality of care furnished by ACOs. The Secretary shall seek to improve the quality of care furnished by Determinations. Contracts.
