An ACO, or Accountable Care Organization, is a healthcare organization that ties provider reimbursements to quality metrics and reductions in the cost of care. ACOs are groups of clinicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to patients. The goal of coordinated care is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. ACOs were proposed to reduce unnecessary medical care and improve health outcomes, reducing utilization of acute care services. ACOs in the United States are formed from a group of coordinated healthcare practitioners. ACOs can include professionals such as doctors of medicine or doctors of osteopathic medicine, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and others. Medicare offers several different types of ACO programs, including the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the ACO Investment Model, the Next Generation ACO Model, the Pioneer ACO Model, and the Vermont All-payer ACO Model. ACOs share information and may use electronic health records (EHRs) to reduce repeated medical tests and save time on paperwork. If an ACO succeeds both in delivering high-quality care and spending healthcare dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.