What We’re Hearing Ahead of NAACOS Spring Conference

Most accountable care organizations (ACOs) are still making performance decisions without a complete, reliable view of their patients.

When data is fragmented across systems and interoperability is limited, attribution becomes harder to reconcile, performance metrics stop matching what’s happening on the ground, and visibility into total cost of care becomes inconsistent. Over time, this creates a gap between reported performance and operational reality.

The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) Spring Conference brings together ACO leaders operating under increasing performance pressure driven by policy changes, benchmarking adjustments, and the continued shift toward two-sided risk where performance is no longer optional.

Performance comes down to attribution, risk adjustment accuracy, and total cost of care across attributed populations. As these dynamics evolve, the challenge isn’t access to data. It’s whether it can actually be used in real-world operations.

Policy Pressure and Performance Visibility

Sessions at NAACOS will focus on how ACOs are adapting to changes in MSSP benchmarking and evolving participation models.

These shifts increase the importance of attribution clarity, cohort-level visibility, and consistent performance tracking. In fragmented provider environments, incomplete data can distort attribution and limit visibility into cost and quality performance.

It’s not just a reporting issue. It changes the day-to-day decisions that determine performance.

In many cases, this pressure gets worse because the underlying data doesn’t fully reflect what’s happening across the network, making it harder to trust performance signals.

Digital Quality and Measurement Readiness

The transition toward digital quality reporting is another key theme.

As ACOs prepare for eCQM and dQM requirements, the focus is moving toward measure logic governance, data transparency, and auditability. Reliable performance measurement depends on infrastructure that can support consistent, version-controlled reporting across populations and contracts — not just once, but over time.

Without a complete and governed longitudinal record, even well-defined measures can produce results that are difficult to validate across systems and reporting cycles, and harder to defend under audit.

From AI Exploration to Accountability

AI is part of the conversation at NAACOS, but the focus is on what is production ready.

The industry is prioritizing governance, transparency, and alignment to reimbursement models. The focus is on how AI can support care gap identification and improve performance visibility without introducing additional risk.

When the underlying patient record is incomplete, AI models risk reinforcing gaps rather than improving performance.

What We’re Listening For

These are the areas where performance tends to break down in practice:

  • Attribution governance and cohort management
  • Benchmarking pressure and performance strategy
  • Digital quality readiness
  • Risk adjustment accuracy
  • Coordination across fragmented provider networks

Connecting at NAACOS Spring

Orion Health will be at NAACOS Spring Conference in Baltimore, connecting with ACO leaders navigating these challenges in real time.

Why Orion Health Is Part of This Conversation

The gap between performance and reality is not a reporting issue, it’s an operational one. This is the context Orion Health is entering at NAACOS Spring. We’re focused on how value-based care models can strengthen longitudinal data completeness so attribution is more accurate, performance better reflects reality, and decisions are based on something teams can trust.

If this reflects what you’re seeing in your own ACO environment, it’s worth comparing notes. Explore how Orion Health supports ACO performance, data visibility, and operational readiness.