Understanding the Role of an Accountable Healthcare Organization in the Healthcare Reform System Song, Z. and Lee, T. (2013). The time for implementing system reform begins. Journal of American Medical Association, 309(1), 35-6. In this article, the authors explain how health care reform evolves through a three-stage system: ; insurance (procedures are affordable), payment (accountable care organization), and physician reform. They develop the idea that for ACOs to be successful, it is physicians who must generate and promote lower costs and higher quality of health care. The authors offer a unique and controversial perspective that could contribute to the success of ACOs. Dr. Lee is a practicing cardiologist, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health. His previous research platforms consisted of research that considered physicians as leaders of ACOs. Song holds a doctorate in health policy and is currently pursuing medical school at Harvard Medical School. This article is written for doctors by doctors to inspire them to reaffirm their position on health care reform. This article supports my topic and gives the reader a different perspective on the conceptualization of ACOs. Fisher, E., Shrotell, S. (2010). Accountable Care Organization – Accountable care for what, who and how. Journal of American Medical Association, 304(15), 1715-6. In this article, the authors briefly outline the general goals of ACOs, attempt to identify who ACOs are intended for, and suggest how ACOs can achieve the stated goals in order to successfully slow the growth of health care spending. Dr. Fisher is a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Insti...... middle of article ......health care policy at Harvard Medical School and the National Bureau of Economic Research in Massachusetts evaluated the how organizations can incur financial risks and gains by joining an ACO. This reevaluation was based on the fact that ACOs use the CMS national growth factor to set health spending limits, as opposed to using the local growth rate of a specific geographic area. Overall, the article is confusing and difficult to follow, as is the statistical data table provided in the examples. The article is intended for physician organization groups. This article evaluates the ACO from a numerical perspective, another is to see the pros and cons of an ACO, but does not help the reader understand the general inner workings of ACOs. Although the articles do not support my topic, they provide the reader with real data to see how many advertisements were lost and won in an ACO..