Sandy Wright gets some help from her C.N.A. Jessica Haynes at her home in Peoria, Illinois
Sandy Wright gets some help from her Certified Nursing Assistant Jessica Haynes at her home in Peoria, Illinois, November 25, 2013. Wright has Neuromyelitis Optica and has a Certified Nursing Assistant come to help her around the house. Now, patients like Wright are at the forefront of an experiment, under way in Peoria, Illinois, and hundreds of other U.S. cities, that could transform the way doctors, nurses and hospitals deliver care to patients. Amid the barrage of criticism over the rollout of Obamacare, groups known as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are quietly going about the business of testing the potential for healthcare reform. The efforts, born of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, are part of the biggest experiment yet to fix the costly and error-plagued U.S. healthcare system. The new models of care, which encourage providers to form networks to coordinate care and cut costs, involve close monitoring of the sickest patients to address budding health problems before they cause a costly trip to the emergency room or an extended hospital stay. To match Feature USA-HEALTHCARE/PEORIA Picture taken November 25, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: HEALTH POLITICS)