Accountable Care

New ACOs Push CMS Closer to Accountable Care Goals

January 18, 2023 - CMS has announced that more than 700,000 healthcare providers and organizations are participating in one of three accountable care organization (ACO) models, including the Medicare Shared Savings  Program. Three ACO models—the Shared Savings Program, the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO...

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Key Plans for Advancing Accountable Care, Value-Based Payment

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care is getting a makeover. For over a decade, the healthcare system has been making the shift to accountable care, or “the coordinated provision of patient services by healthcare providers and facilities with the goals...

Shared Savings Program ACOs Cut Costs Again, With 58% Earning Payouts

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Over half of Shared Savings Program ACOs earned payments for their quality and cost performance in 2021, according to new data from CMS. The federal agency reports that ACOs in the Medicare Shared...

Spike in Radiologist Accountable Care Organization Participation

by Jill McKeon

Radiologist involvement in Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) accountable care organizations (ACOs) has increased significantly in recent years, showing promise for increased specialist...

No Extension for Next Generation ACO Model After This Year

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model will come to an end at the end of this year as planned despite several calls for an extension, according to an email to model...

Solving the ACO’s Out-of-Network Utilization Problem

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Physician networks are key to the success of accountable care organizations. Leaders of these organizations, otherwise known as ACOs, lean on their networks of high-quality, cost-efficient providers to...

ACO Participation Hits New Low as Biden Administration Takes Over

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organization (ACO) participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program has hit a new low in 2021, according to new data from CMS. The data dropped by CMS this week showed that 477...

Next Generation ACOs Saved Medicare $558M in 2019

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) taking on the greatest financial risk in Medicare through the Next Generation ACO Model saved the public payer over $558 million in 2019, according to partial data...

CareMount’s Foundation for Accountable Care Organization Savings

by Jacqueline LaPointe

In CareMount Health Solutions’ first year as an accountable care organization (ACO) in Medicare’s Next Generation ACO Model, the organization was one of 38 participants to earn shared...

Accountable Care Organizations Saved Medicare $3.5B, Netting $755M

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program saved CMS approximately $3.52 billion from 2013 to 2017, according to a new analysis from analytic firm Dobson DaVanzo &...

Advocate Aurora Invests in People, Infrastructure for ACO Success

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organization (ACO) success was no stranger to physicians at Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. Now that the two major health systems are combined, the new...

For Ongoing ACO Shared Savings, Look Outside Inpatient, Primary Care

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Seven years have passed since the Affordable Care Act catalyzed the idea of volume over value in the healthcare industry, paving the way for accountable care organizations (ACOs) to accrue shared shavings while focusing on population...

Importance of Post-Acute Alignment, Integration to Value-Based Care

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

To achieve the ultimate goals of value-based care, healthcare organizations will need to assume greater responsibility over the patient’s experience across multiple care settings based on the...

NAACOS Reveals 2017 Accountable Care Organization Priorities

by Jacqueline LaPointe

As part of its 2017 advocacy agenda, the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) released policy recommendations for ACO improvement. The recommendations included Medicare Shared...

Provider Engagement Key to Accountable Care Organization Success

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) leaders may need to boost healthcare provider engagement to foster value-based care success, a recent study in the American Journal of Accountable Care...

The Future of Accountable Care Organizations Involves Risk

by Jacqueline LaPointe

As many healthcare providers know, participating in a value-based care program, such as an accountable care organization, is about more than just tying payment to quality.  It involves shouldering...

CMS Shares Open Payments Data to Boost Healthcare Transparency

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare vendors and manufacturers have spent $7.52 billion in payments and ownership and investment interests to providers and teaching hospitals in 2015, according to a press release from CMS. The...

Characteristics of Successful Accountable Care Organizations

by Jacqueline LaPointe

As the number of accountable care organizations (ACO) continues to grow, many healthcare providers are all too familiar with the alternative payment model’s overarching goals of improving care...

Value-Based Care Implementation Delayed for Most Hospitals

by Jacqueline LaPointe

While the federal government has announced explicit goals for implementing value-based care models in the next few years, some healthcare providers may not be ready to completely do away with traditional...

Number of Accountable Care Organizations Continue to Rise

by Catherine Sampson

The number of accountable care organizations (ACOs) continue to increase across the county. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced 121 new Medicare...

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