Main Library
What Comes Next In Prioritizing Equity In Payment? The ACO REACH Model

What Comes Next In Prioritizing Equity In Payment? The ACO REACH Model

April 6, 2022Joshua M. Liao, Amol S. NavatheHealth AffairsSocial Determinants Of Health (SDOH),ACO REACH

Starting in January 2023, health care payment policy will take an important step toward health equity. Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new accountable care model that replaces the prior Directing Contracting models and incorporates changes to help organizations address equity and access through accountable care organization (ACO) participation.

The forthcoming ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) model makes several foundational advances required for promoting equity through payment model design. These advances include intentional planning on how participants will improve health equity, collection of data on individual-level social determinants, and use of financial incentives directly tied to equity. The REACH model builds on CMS’s equity-based payment incentive in the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model announced last year, the first time a model has directly financially rewarded equity gap closure. While individual organizations in existing ACO programs may be working on advancing equity in their own settings, ACO REACH is also first model built on a CMS Innovation Center strategic refresh oriented explicitly around this goal.

More broadly, ACO REACH underscores a call to action for health care stakeholders to take several steps as part of a broader framework for addressing equity by going beyond traditional approaches to value-based payment. In this article, we outline how the REACH model takes several foundational steps needed to prioritize equity in health care payment. We also describe the work that we believe still needs to be done. (See exhibit 1 at end of article.)

Full Article

: health equity

Related Posts

HEDIS Changes Reflect Focus on Health Equity

August 1, 2022aco

Applying the Equity Lens to Quality and Safety Initiatives

August 3, 2021Garrett Schmitt

CMS Moves Closer to Accountable Care Goals with 2025 ACO Initiatives

January 22, 2025aco

Recent Posts

  • RECORDED WEBINAR: Beyond the Dashboard: Operationalizing Market Insights Across the Enterprise
  • A Strategic Guide for ACO Leaders: 3 Critical Considerations Before the August 1st CMS Deadline
  • RECORDED WEBINAR: Reducing Readmissions with Pharmacist-Led Medication Reconciliation for Safer Transitions of Care
  • RECORDED WEBINAR: CASE STUDY: How Privia Medical Group- North Texas and VillageMD Reduced Referral Leakage, Specialty, & Admin Costs
  • FLASH INTERVIEW – Symbion Coding Inc – 2025
 
  • Main Lobby
  • Exhibit Hall
  • Events
  • Exhibit With Us
  • Board Room
  • Library
  • Contact Us