ACOs | VBCExhibitHall Library

Medicare, Medicaid innovation center lays out ambitious agenda for next decade

November 2, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACOs, Affordable Care Act, CMMI, CMS, CMS Innovation Center, fee-for-service, Medicaid, Medicare, payment models

The federal agency responsible for developing new health care payment models wants every fee-for-service Medicare beneficiary to be getting care from a provider who’s part of an accountable care organization by 2030. That goal is laid out in a recent white paper from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), “Driving Health System Transformation—A Strategy for the CMS Innovation Center’s Second Decade.”…

62% of Consumers Unfamiliar with Value-Based Care, Study Finds

October 25, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACOs, consumer education, consumers, healthcare, healthcare consumers, healthcare education, healthcare industry, Patient Education, patients, value-based care, vbc

More than half of consumers are unfamiliar with value-based care, and for the ones who are aware of it, only a quarter can define the healthcare model correctly, a new study from nonprofit health plan EmblemHealth revealed. The payer surveyed 970 consumers online between August 12 and August 22, 2021, and found that there is a…

Next Generation ACO Model Has Saved Medicare $667M, So Far

October 21, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO, ACOs, alternative payment models, APMs, CMS, Medicare, Medicare savings, Next Gen, Next Generation, Next Generation ACOs, Next Generation model

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…

New ACO Playbook: How To Supercharge Your ACO

October 20, 2021Garrett SchmittNo Commentsaccountable care, ACO, ACO Growth, ACO Performance Pathways, ACO success, ACOs, APP, Data, data sufficiency, Episodes of Care, patients, physicians

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…

Downside Risk Pays Off: 4 Best Practices for High ACO Performance

October 19, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO performance, ACO success, ACOs, CMS, Data, data aggregation, Downside Risk, Medicare, Medicare Shared Savings Program, MSSP, Patient Engagement, performance monitoring, population stratification, Risk

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…

ACO Success Is Possible: The Leaders at Castell Accountable Care Explain How

October 11, 2021Garrett SchmittNo Commentsaccountable care, ACO, ACO success, ACOs, CMS, MSSP, quality scores

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…

FLASH INTERVIEW — Healthjump — October 2021

October 7, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO, ACOs, aggregated datasets, Data, data integration, data processes, data processing, datasets, EHR, EHR systems, health data, health tech, health technology, healthcare data, Healthjump, historical health data, Interoperability, normalization, transactional data, transactional health data, value-based care, vbc, Workflow

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…

New ACO Playbook: Seven Keys To Expanding ACO Savings—And Market Share

October 6, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO, ACO savings, ACOs, behavioral heath services, chronic disease, cost drivers, cost variations, market share, patient episode analytics, patient outcomes, Population Health, Risk, savings, specialty care models, treatments

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…

FLASH INTERVIEW — HealthEC — October 2021

October 5, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO, ACOs, advisory services, CareConnect, clinically-proven, community health, community-based resources, Dr. Sanjay Seth, HealthEC, KLAS, Population Health, Population Health Management, value-based care, value-based healthcare, vbc

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…

Has a New Policy Fault Line Opened Up Around APMs?

October 4, 2021Garrett SchmittNo CommentsACO, ACOs, alternative payment models, America's Physician Groups, APG, APMs, direct contracting, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, MSSP

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:…