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…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) were understandably disappointed in mid-May when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that its Next Generation ACO Model would not be extended into 2022. Launched in 2016, the CMS model provides experienced ACOs with a way to assume higher financial risks and rewards offered through the Medicare Shared…
CMS won’t extend the Next Generation ACO Model through 2022 but will allow participants to apply for the standard track of its Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model, the agency said in a letter to Next Gens on Friday. The American Hospital Association, National Association of Accountable Care Organizations and other provider groups had lobbied…
The goal of the value movement is to incentivize providers to move away from the traditional fee-for-service model and provide coordinated care for patients with an eye toward improving quality and reducing cost. One key mechanism to achieve this goal is accountable care organization (ACO) models that—because they are offered along a continuum of varying…
There were 18 active NGACOs in 2016, with 15 having prior Medicare ACO experience These 18 NGACOs served 477,197 beneficiaries, with 31,070 network providers and 775 network facilities In aggregate, NGACOs served three percent of total Medicare beneficiaries in all markets On average, a 2016 NGACO served about 26,500 aligned beneficiaries (median of 24,219 beneficiaries)…
Employing additional administrative staff, prioritizing care management, and building data analytics capacity were key strategies accountable care organizations (ACOs) implemented to participate in the Next Generation model, CMS recently reported. The initial group of ACOs generated net savings of $62 million to Medicare while maintaining care quality, CMS reported in an evaluation of the model’s…
Although Next Generation ACOs have performed well in their first year, health IT challenges like interoperability may be standing in their way of achieving greater success, according to a CMS evaluation prepared by NORC at the University of Chicago. CMS launched the Next Generation ACO models in 2016 under the vision that providing strong financial…
The first cohort of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Next Generation model generated net savings to Medicare of approximately $62 million while maintaining quality of care for beneficiaries for the 2016 performance year, according to a new evaluation report released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The report was prepared by…
Next Generation Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) saved the Medicare program $62 million during their first year of operation in 2016, encouraging CMS to expand downside risk models across Medicare. Next Generation ACOs accept the highest risk of any current CMS accountable care programs, which emphasizes the achievement of reducing costs while maintaining high quality of…
UnityPoint Health’s participation in the initial rollout of CMS’ Next Generation ACO Model helped them succeed beyond their expectations in their transition to reimbursement risk. In performance year 1 (2016), UnityPoint’s 85,000-member Iowa Health ACO earned more than $10.5 million in shared savings. Like most health systems, UnityPoint still gets more revenue from fee-for-service than…