Accountable Care Organizations

Strategies for integrating specialty care into value-based care models

April 4, 2024 - Value-based care models must address both primary and specialty care to improve patient outcomes and reduce spending. A CMS Innovation Center strategy details ongoing efforts to integrate specialty care into the healthcare system. Past studies have shown that Medicare beneficiaries are seeing more specialists and experiencing more fragmented care....

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MSSP accountable care organizations share key priorities and challenges

by Victoria Bailey

In the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), accountable care organizations (ACOs) prioritize annual wellness visits, care transitions, and clinician engagement, as Medicare Advantage growth causes...

CMS announces new ACO model focused on primary care

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS will test a new accountable care organization (ACO) model that focuses on primary care providers starting next year. A recent announcement states that CMS will launch a five-year voluntary ACO...

How Can Providers Establish Successful Accountable Care Organizations?

by Victoria Bailey

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a common way healthcare providers can transition from fee-for-service to value-based care delivery. In ACOs, providers come together to deliver quality coordinated care to patients while usually...

Making ACOs More Accessible for Long-Term and Post-Acute Care Providers

by Victoria Bailey

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) and the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) have released recommendations on how to increase accountable care...

After Slowdown, ACO Participation in Shared Savings Program Grows

by Jacqueline LaPointe

More accountable care organizations (ACOs) are participating in Medicare programs this year, including a new, permanent payment option in the Shared Savings Program. CMS recently announced ACO...

Understanding the Fundamentals of Accountable Care Organizations

by Editorial Staff

The healthcare payment process is undergoing a dramatic transformation as payers and providers shift from volume to value. While stakeholders are currently piloting many value-based care models, accountable care organizations (ACOs) are...

More Provider Orgs Have Value-Based Contracts With Private Payers

by Victoria Bailey

More provider organizations are participating in value-based contracts outside Medicare, as three-quarters of respondents were under contracts with commercial and Medicare Advantage plans in 2022, a...

Unlocking the Future of Value-Based Care With Data

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Advocate Health is a value-based care leader. More than 2.4 million lives are covered by the health system’s value-based care contracts, which include 12 different accountable care organizations (ACOs) and clinically integrated...

How Vermont’s All-Payer ACO Model Paves the Way for Value-Based Care

by Victoria Bailey

As its name states, the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model is an arrangement that incorporates patients with both private and public healthcare coverage, but what makes this model so appealing to providers? Is this...

NAACOS: Medicare Payment Incentives Favor Clinicians in Fee-For-Service

by Victoria Bailey

Medicare payment incentives favor clinicians participating in fee-for-service models rather than those in advanced alternative payment models (APMs), according to the National Association of...

Top 10 Accountable Care Organizations by Medicare Shared Savings

by Editorial Staff

The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) saved CMS $1.8 billion in 2022, marking the sixth consecutive year of overall savings for the program. This also represents the second-highest yearly savings since the program started in...

Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs Saved $1.8B in 2022, CMS Reports

by Victoria Bailey

The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) saved Medicare $1.8 billion in 2022, with 63 percent of accountable care organizations (ACOs) earning payments for their performance. This is the sixth...

CMS Updates ACO REACH Model for 2024 to Improve Health Equity

by Victoria Bailey

CMS has announced revisions to the ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) model to improve health equity and predictability for participants. CMS replaced the Direct...

NAACOS: Medicare Shared Savings Program Needs Full-Risk Option

by Victoria Bailey

A full-risk option in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) would offer accountable care organizations (ACOs) additional flexibility and more capitation options, according to the National...

Benchmark Regionalization in MSSP Disincentivized Higher-Spending ACOs

by Victoria Bailey

After CMS began incorporating regional spending into accountable care organization (ACO) benchmarks in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), more higher-spending ACOs exited the program, a study...

NAACOS Offers Guidance for Hybrid Primary Care Payment Model in MSSP

by Victoria Bailey

The National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) is calling on CMS to establish a hybrid primary care payment model in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) using two possible approaches that will...

How CMMI Value-Based Care Models Have Impacted Costs, Quality

by Victoria Bailey

Many value-based care models have helped generate savings, reduce costs, and improve care quality, but models must incorporate health equity and clinical outcomes to achieve true value for all,...

Medicare ACO Healthcare Spending Recovered to Pre-Pandemic Levels

by Victoria Bailey

Between 2019 and 2021, healthcare spending by accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) recovered to pre-pandemic levels but shifted from inpatient to...

Healthcare Orgs Push for Hybrid Primary Care Payment Option in MSSP

by Victoria Bailey

More than 25 healthcare organizations have urged CMS officials to establish a hybrid primary care payment option in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) to enhance primary care and boost...

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