The troubled rollout of online health insurance marketplaces has grabbed headlines recently. But one expert believes people are overestimating the importance of the Affordable Care Act’s enrollment components and also underestimating how the law will integrate acute and long-term care.

“What’s most important for post-acute providers to understand is that the systems are consolidating,” said Dan Mendelson, president and CEO of research and advisory services firm Avalere Health. Mendelson spoke on camera with McKnight’s in Chicago at the recent national conference of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry.

Echoing advice from many other quarters, Mendelson stressed the importance of implementing technology to share information with hospitals and other network partners — but he also suggested that long-term care providers will have to consider new types of contracts.

“They need to be able to contract in new ways that unlock the potential for them to save money for both hospitals and health systems,” he said.

Click play above to see more.