By Jennifer Lubell - January 17, 2012

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As the “accountable care boom” strides on in certain parts of the country, no soil is being tilled at all, it seems, in other areas to grow these new models of care.

A recent story in ACO Business News highlighted a white paper by Leavitt Partners’ Center for ACO Intelligence, which tracks national and regional trends related to ACOs and other emerging care delivery systems. As the white paper noted, some regions of the United States seem to be devoid of ACOs. “While ACO growth is extensive in some regions, others have no current ACO activity. Poorer and rural regions in particular have little ACO growth.”

The dearth appears to be most apparent in the Southeast and Appalachian regions, which, as the researchers point out, “consistently rank as the least healthy areas of the country with a high prevalence of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Accordingly, it would seem that these regions stand to benefit the most from coordinated care.”

Jordan Battani, principal researcher in the Global Institute of Emerging Healthcare Practices Group at consulting firm Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), opines that the lack of ACOs in these areas probably has to do with the low concentration of providers. “It may also have to do with the concentration of payers in a particular market….The places where you see the most activity are areas where you already see some work going on.”

In Arkansas, at least, offers William Golden, M.D., professor of medicine and public health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, conditions in the state may not be especially favorable for ACO formation due to the absence of large, integrated practices.

That said, certain forces (i.e., several area hospitals collaborating with physicians) may be creating new ventures on this front “so things will evolve,” Golden says — but not necessarily overnight.

For those readers who live in areas where ACOs aren’t forming, what local market conditions may be contributing to this?

The ACO Business News story on the Leavitt Partners’ Center for ACO Intelligence’s white paper is one of more than 20 articles in Health Business Outlook 2012, a free report for registered users of AISHealth.com. Click here to access the report, which features insightful predictions on the opportunities and pitfalls major health industry players will face in the coming year.