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Accountable care organizations (ACOs) that provided between 40 and 45 percent of office visits through specialists had significantly lower costs compared to ACOs with the lowest and highest specialty care proportions, according to a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst study.
Published in JAMA Open Network, the study of 620 ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program from April 2012 to September 2017 found that ACOs with a balance of specialty and primary care had $1,129 lower annual spending per beneficiary versus ACOs with a specialist visit proportion of less the 35 percent, and $752 lower annual spending per beneficiary compared to ACOs with a specialist visit proportion of 60 percent of more.