The Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model has saved Medicare millions of dollars over the past four performance years. But with one more year to go due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Model is actually operating at a loss. Next Generation ACOs have saved Medicare nearly $667 million thanks to reductions in Parts A…
Throughout the last decade of ACO development, many have struggled to identify what actually makes ACOs successful. Analyses have been fraught with conflicting conclusions. Studies have tagged type of ownership (hospital-based vs. physician-led), geographic region or urban-rural factors, primary-care-only versus specialty participation, ACO payment model type, patient volume, and operations strategies as links to success…
The Medicare Shared Savings Program, the accountable care organization (ACO) model that served 10.6 million seniors in 2020, collectively saved Medicare $4.1 billion last year, and $1.9 billion after accounting for shared savings payments, according to the National Association of ACOs and as recently published in Healthcare Finance. 513 ACOs participated in the Shared Savings Program in 2020, down…
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced the 2020 results for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in early September, Intermountain Healthcare’s Castell Accountable Care organization was revealed to have received a quality score of 97.03 percent and to have generated $11.5 million in savings for Medicare. The…
Healthjump is a data extraction, normalization, and interoperability platform purpose-built to deliver both transactional and historical health data from EHR systems. With Healthjump, users can easily connect and extract EHR data, automate data processes, access aggregated datasets, and instantly integrate data into products or workflows. Healthjump uses top-notch technology and support to simplify interoperability…
At the beginning of this series, we laid out a basic tenet: As shared savings plan ACOs, you need to do as well or better at lowering costs than competing value-based payment models. Otherwise, your resources and support will dwindle in favor of more promising avenues to control Medicare spending, and competition will stifle your…
HealthEC offers a KLAS-recognized, end-to-end population health management platform designed to help ACOs succeed with value-based care. Our HealthEC CareConnect® generates personalized, clinically-proven plans that enable teams, including community-based resources, to deliver patient-centric care. Advisory services are also available to guide our ACO partners in defining their strategic goals as they transition from volume…
As we reported in a news article on Sept. 30, “A dispute has arisen over controversial statements made by two prominent healthcare policy leaders around the Medicare Advantage program. On Sept. 30, Donald Berwick, M.D., and Richard Gilfillan, M.D., published an article in the Health Affairs Blog entitled “Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 2:…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) can improve health equity in their patient populations, but they need more funding and flexibility to do so, according to a report from a group representing 370 ACOs. “ACOs are already beginning to do the work of addressing negative [social determinants of health] to improve quality and control costs for the…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program had a record performance year in 2020. The ACOs saved Medicare $4.1 billion while achieving an average quality score of 97.8 percent. One of the health systems participating in the program—Advocate Aurora Health—led the nation in savings and quality. Advocate Aurora’s affiliated ACOs generated $110 million in…