Akron accountable care community project hopes to become national model

Leaders of the Akron-based Austen BinInnovation Institute are hoping that the organization’s Accountable Care Community initiative is so successful at increasing quality and reducing costs that it becomes a national model (“BioInnovation Institute wants community health project to become national model,” Akron Beacon Journal, Feb. 9, 2012).

The ACC project brings together public health, medical providers, health systems, higher education, safety-net services, researchers, mental-health services and other community agencies to develop communitywide health improvement programs.

According to Dr. Frank L. Douglas, the president and chief executive of the Austen BioInnovation Institute, the goal of the ACC project is to “lessen burden of disease, reduce health-care costs and empower patients to improve their lives and the health of the community.”

The Institute is a partnership between the three hospital systems in Akron, the University of Akron and the Northeast Ohio Medical University.