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A new, independent evaluation has found that accountable care organizations (ACOs), Medicare’s dominant value-based care initiative serving nearly 11 million seniors, lowered spending by $3.53 billion from 2013 to 2017 and saved $755 million after paying shared savings.
The research is the latest in a series of analyses that has demonstrated ACOs’ value to Medicare, particularly during a time when there’s been significant debate over the results these organizations have delivered to date.
According to a Dec. 3 news release from the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS), this latest evaluation, conducted by the analytic firm Dobson|DaVanzo & Associates, compared ACO spending to similar non-ACO providers and patients to determine what spending would be in the absence of ACOs. This is in contrast to how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has judged performance based on benchmarks, an ACO’s annual, pre-determined spending target, according to NAACOS, which has previously alleged that the government has calculated ACO savings the wrong way.