ALEXANDRIA, VA – As part of its Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Collaborative, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) is partnering with South Bend, Ind.-based Press Ganey Associates to measure patients' experiences across the continuum of care.

Press Ganey will be AMGA's official survey administrator for the collaborative and will work with the group and its Development and Implementation Collaboratives to develop survey content, methodology and recommended distribution methods to assess the effectiveness of coordination of care.

Press Ganey will also collect and analyze the ACO survey results and work closely with AMGA and its medical group members to develop and implement improvement initiatives to maximize the efficiency and patient centered focus on care delivery.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Press Ganey as we aid our members in becoming high-performing care organizations that will qualify as ACOs," said Don Fisher, president and CEO of AMGA. "Recent reform legislation has inspired members to use the ACO model as an impetus to transform the delivery and financing of care. Press Ganey's experience measuring and improving the patient experience across the continuum will help our members realize their goals to transform their organizations into successful ACOs providing the best in quality care and experience."

ACOs are one of the key components of recent healthcare reform legislation that address the two greatest challenges facing U.S. healthcare: unsustainable escalation of costs that threaten the affordability of care, and fragmented, poorly coordinated care with little accountability for managing the outcomes of the entire patient experience.

Officials said the solution being developed by Press Ganey and AMGA will help to address these challenges and also provide improvement solutions.

"With the Affordable Care Act positioning accountable care organizations as a means for better managing healthcare costs and delivering better care, a priority exists for better measuring and improving the patient experience across the continuum of care delivery," said Richard B. Siegrist, Jr., CEO of Press Ganey.

He added that with "Press Ganey's experience with public reporting, extensive database development and management, and working with healthcare providers across the continuum of care, from the primary care physician to the hospital, we have the qualifications to work with the AMGA to develop this new, essential tool for medical practices. The AMGA, as one of the author's of the ACO legislation, is the perfect partner to reach a wide network of medical practice groups focused on improving care for patients through an ACO model."