While many health care organizations need to improve health care quality and lower costs, most lack specific strategies and tactics for implementing these changes. Baylor Scott & White Health has established and continues to develop an accountable care organization (ACO) called the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (BSWQA) to improve the quality of care and decrease health care costs through clinical integration.

Accountable: The Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance Accountable Care Journey tells the story of the BSWQA and its clinical network and payers who are committed to delivering accountable, value-based patient care. It describes the need for ACOs in today's health care environment and details the framework and requirements needed to establish one.

The book provides readers with essential background information about accountable care, including the Triple Aim and population health management. It outlines the infrastructure and governance framework needed to establish a successful ACO and supplies real-world examples from the ACO owned by Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit health care system in Texas.

The book explores the concept of accountability for all stakeholders in today's complex care systems, as well as the role of personal and organizational accountability in managing patient populations. It also includes detailed outlines to guide you in developing your own accountable care organization--from step-by-step details of legal requirements to an outline of the role of payers in this model.

Carl Couch, MD, MMM, FAAFP, is the President of the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance, a clinically integrated organization of 625 employed physicians, 1800 independent physicians, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) hospitals, and other providers of care whose mission is to improve quality and reduce the overall cost of care for the patients and communities served by BSWH.

Before coming to his current role, Dr. Couch served as Vice President of Health Care Improvement of Baylor Health Care System (BHCS), now part of Baylor Scott & White Health, from 2010 to 2011 and was the founding director and 13-year Chairman of the Board of HealthTexas Provider Network. He was also the founder of Family Medical Center at Garland, Texas and has been an active family physician for 40 years. Additionally, Dr. Couch was founder and executive director of ABC Baylor; Co-Chairman of the BSWH Best Care Committee; founder and Director of Baylor Health Care System's Advanced Physician Leadership course; and Director of the Physician Champions.

Dr. Couch's interests as a physician leader include physician group dynamics, large group practice organization and function, physician compensation, systematic quality improvement, ACO formation, and medical informatics. He has also done extensive work in redesigning the clinical delivery model to reduce hassles, improve quality, and work with the Dallas-Fort Worth community of payers, providers, and purchasers to simplify the complexity of care delivery.

Dr. Couch is a board-certified family physician and an AOA graduate of the University of Florida Medical School. He completed his clinical training at Parkland in Dallas and holds a Masters in Medical Management from Tulane University in New Orleans and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.