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Among the industry experts who spoke with Healthcare Innovation in participating in the development of this year’s Ten Transformative Trends cover story package in the May/June issue of the publication was Christopher Kerns, vice president for executive insights for Advisory Board, a Washington, D.C.-based research division of the Minneapolis-based Optum. Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland interviewed Kearns for the “ACOs on the Edge” Trend article, which focused on the complex landscape around the ongoing evolution of accountable care organizations.
As the “ACOs on the Edge” article noted, “There couldn’t possibly be a more fragile or complex moment for the nation’s accountable care organizations (ACOs), which were already being buffeted by winds of policy and payment change—particularly those participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and Next Generation (NextGen) ACO Program, sponsored by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).” And, in the face of the crushing impact this spring of the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS Administrator Seema Verma was forced to backtrack somewhat, given CMS’s nationwide order to shut down all elective procedures on March 18, which led to two or more months of severe financial repercussions nationwide.