Accountable Care Communities

Accountable care communities are a new health model that involves multiple stakeholders working together to improve the health and well-being of their communities by addressing social determinants of health. Stakeholders include health care delivery systems, public health organizations, and community organizations. In an accountable care community, the stakeholders commit to share responsibility, resources, and data to improve community health indicators. Accountable care communities are a promising model to both decrease medical costs and improve health outcomes by placing greater emphasis on addressing social and economic issues that ultimately define health. This issue of the NCMJ highlights accountable care communities in other states and provides an overview of how accountable care community initiatives are working in North Carolina to improve the overall health of our communities.