OVERVIEW
What Is an ACO (Accountable Care Organization) Administrator?
An ACO administrator is responsible for running the day-to-day operations and tending to the essential, non-care tasks of an ACO. This may include activities related to either helping providers increase the quality of patient care or reducing care costs. On the whole, their job functions similarly to other types of healthcare administrators, but because the context in which they work is slightly different, ACO administrators have slightly different responsibilities, duties, and priorities.
ACOs are a relatively new healthcare model that was formally established as part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program by the Affordable Care Act in 2010. On the surface, they appear to share similarities with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). However, ACOs are not insurance plans, nor do they try to fix the price of care for patients.
The primary purpose of ACOs is to hold providers accountable for implementing better practices so patients can get the care they need at a more affordable price. This includes improving communications between providers, sharing relevant patient information, and focusing on preventative care.
RESPONSIBILITIES
What Does an ACO Administrator Do?
An ACO administrator has a diverse variety of job responsibilities. The specific duties can differ from organization to organization, but generally include:
- Creating and maintaining ACO administrative structure
- Developing and refining budgets
- Managing organization or department finances
- Discovering and forging relationships with other ACO participants
- Implementing payment processes and procedures
- Communicating with healthcare providers both inside and outside of the facility
- Determining dispersal of shared savings
- Improving overall efficiency and quality of the organization
Depending on the facility and specific role requirements, ACO administrators may be in charge of an entire organization, department, or single team. This can also affect an ACO admin’s day-to-day activities. Either way, an ACO administrator always has to balance two main priorities in all of their job duties: patient care and cost management.
EDUCATION & BEST DEGREES
What Education Does an ACO Administrator Need?
ACO administrators need, at a minimum, some kind of bachelor’s degree in healthcare. It’s a foundational step for any kind of health administration position.
However, it’s more likely that you’ll need an advanced healthcare degree—specifically, a Master’s in healthcare administration or MBA in healthcare management—to pursue a career as an ACO administrator. An advanced degree will give you a more nuanced understanding of healthcare administration and allow you to develop the strategic leadership skills you need to succeed in this role. Not only will an advanced degree better prepare you for the job, but it will also make you a more competitive candidate when you begin looking for a position. Think about your strengths, weaknesses, and the type of experience you need when considering which degree is best for you.
What Degrees are Best for an ACO Administrator?
Health & Nursing
Master of Healthcare Administration
A master's focused on managing comprehensive, value-based care, directly...
A master's focused on managing comprehensive, value-based care, directly in line with innovations in health and healthcare.
- Time: 60% of grads finish within 21 months.
- Tuition: $4,995 per 6-month term.
- Courses: 12 total courses in this program.
Skills for your résumé that you will learn in this program:
- Collaborative Leadership
- Healthcare Models and Systems
- Healthcare Financial Management
- Enterprise Risk Management
- Healthcare Information Technology
Your rich experience in a health-related field can mean more when you bring a master's level of understanding to the problems that organizations need to solve.
Compare degrees
This program is not the only degree WGU offers designed to create leaders in the field of healthcare. Compare our health leadership degrees.
Health & Nursing
Nursing Leadership Certificate – Leavitt School of Health
Enhance your résumé and take a step in your educational journey with the...
Enhance your résumé and take a step in your educational journey with the help of a nursing leadership certificate from the Leavitt School of Health.
- Time: 3 months from start to finish.
- Cost: $2,000 for the certificate.
- Courses: 3 courses total in this program.
This program is for emerging nursing leaders, however this program does not require a bachelor’s degree, and provides transferable credit towards a WGU degree program. The three courses are:
- Interprofessional Communication and Leadership in Healthcare
- Intrapersonal Leadership and Professional Growth
- Nursing Leadership Capstone
Business
MBA Healthcare Management
Prepare for a career leading private or public healthcare organizations....
Prepare for a career leading private or public healthcare organizations.
- Time: WGU lets you set a schedule so you can finish your MBA in just one year.
- Tuition: $4,755 per 6-month term.
- Courses: 11 total courses in this program.
Skills for your résumé you will learn in this program include:
- Regulatory compliance
- Patient care improvement
- Service line development
- Healthcare trends
- Health policy and legislation
Healthcare is big business in today's complex economy. Steer your career with this specialty MBA.
Compare online business degrees
This program is not the only online business degree WGU offers that is designed to create leaders in the field of healthcare. Compare our health leadership degrees.
How Much Does an ACO Administrator Make?
$101,340
Per the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), $104,280 per year (or $50.13 per hour) is the median salary for healthcare administration professionals. Of course, this may not be your actual salary. Your earning potential as an ACO admin will vary greatly depending on your previous experience, the type of organization you work for, your level of education, and the location of your job. The more experience and education you have, the higher your salary and earning potential will be.
What Is the Projected Job Growth?
28%
Currently, the job outlook for healthcare administrators is strong. The BLS projects this profession to grow 28%—significantly faster than the average of all occupations—by 2029. While several factors are driving this growth, the shift in care settings is among the most significant for ACO administrators. Given current trends in the healthcare industry, the BLS believes that more care will be provided by health practitioners, rather than by hospitals, resulting in a greater need for “medical group practice management,” especially for large or complex organizations.
SKILLS
What Skills Does an ACO Administrator Need?
You will need a blend of hard and soft skills to succeed as an ACO administrator:
- Planning and organization. Because ACO admins deal with so many different tasks, you must be highly organized and comfortable prioritizing your work, especially if issues come up unexpectedly.
- Communication. They must be adept at communicating with other people—including healthcare providers and even patients—in both verbal and written formats.
- Business administration skills. A major component of working as an ACO administrator is running the business side of a given healthcare organization. Business administration skills are necessary for handling the operational and financial aspects of this job.
- Teamwork. In an ACO administrator position, one must be able to work independently on certain tasks, but you must be equally confident and capable of working with others.
- Patient care. Though ACO administrators don’t need to care for patients, they do need to know about patient care so they can work to continually improve it. This includes common injuries and illnesses as well as their associated treatments and prevention tactics.
- Quality assurance. They must ensure healthcare providers are meeting all of the care standards required of an ACO.
- Legal knowledge. In addition to vital healthcare laws, ACO administrators must be familiar with the laws and governmental policies surrounding ACOs.
- Problem-solving skills. They must be creative problem solvers to work as any kind of healthcare administrator. In both business and the medical field, emergencies that require quick and decisive responses are bound to arise.
You may have some of these skills naturally, but you can work on developing others while getting your degree or gaining experience as a healthcare administrator.
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