WASHINGTON – The National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) announced today the members of its 2019 Policy and Quality Committees.

The NAACOS Policy Committee is a subcommittee of the NAACOS Board of Directors and helps guide the NAACOS advocacy agenda to improve the long-term stability and success of the accountable care model. Policy committee members provide vital feedback to NAACOS staff on a variety of issues related to the accountable care model, including proposed regulations and legislation under consideration by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Congress. Members of the Policy Committee include:

• Sandra Van Trease, BJC ACO – Committee Chair
• Cecilia Ugarte Baldwin, JD, Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization
• Mike Barrett, DAMEA, LLC
• Emily Brower, Trinity Health
• Rob Fields, MD, Mount Sinai Health System
• Pamela Halvorson, UnityPoint Accountable Care
• Elissa Langley, Triad HealthCare Network
• Farzad Mostashari, MD, Aledade ACO
• Christine Papineau, Essentia Health
• Denise B. Prince, Mount Sinai Health System
• Zak Ramadan-Jradi, MD, MultiCare Connected Care
• Patt Richesin, Kootenai Care Network
• Richard Salhany, Richmond University Medical Center
• Katherine Schneider, MD, Delaware Valley ACO
• Gary Wainer, DO, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare

The NAACOS Quality Committee is another subcommittee of the Board of Directors, comprised of board members and NAACOS members with direct involvement in ACO quality. The committee evaluates quality initiatives and requirements that relate to ACOs and focuses on the role of quality in population-based payment models. Committee members help develop and guide NAACOS quality strategy pertaining to Medicare ACO models Shared Savings Program and other payers with ACO contracts.  Members of the Quality Committee include: 

• Rob Fields, MD, Mount Sinai Health System – Committee Chair
• Bracken Babula, MD, Jefferson Internal Medical Associates, Thomas Jefferson University
• Jen Brooks, Arizona Care Network
• Mark Calderon, MD, Atlantic ACO and Optimus Healthcare Partners
• Melody Danko-Holsomback, Keystone ACO
• Richard Feifer, MD, Genesis Physician Services
• Jeffrey Forman, MD, Bayview Physicians Group
• Lerla Joseph, MD, Central Virginia Coalition of Healthcare Providers 
• Theresa Knowles, Community Care Partnership of Maine
• Laura McGeorge, MD, St. Luke’s Physicians Services
• Adriana Quiroga-Garcia, Trinity Health – St. Joseph’s Health
• Megan Reyna, Advocate Physician Partners
• Michael VanScoy, MD, Essentia Health
• Kim Williams, Novant Health

“This year will prove to be pivotal in the continued growth and development of the accountable care model as Medicare stands to implement recent changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program and launches new payment models,” said Katherine Schneider, NAACOS board chair and president and CEO of the Delaware Valley ACO. “The work of NAACOS’s policy and quality committees will play an important role in our work to develop and advocate for policies to ensure the continued growth and development of ACOs, which have shown to improve the care of patients.”

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About NAACOS. The National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) is the largest association of Medicare ACOs, representing more than 5 million beneficiary lives through 330 MSSP, Next Generation and Commercial ACOs. NAACOS is an ACO member-led and member-owned nonprofit organization that works on behalf of ACOs across the nation to improve the quality of care, population health and outcomes, and health care cost efficiency.