Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) have improved patient care and produced $372 million in savings for the program, according to performance results released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The encouraging news comes from preliminary quality and financial results from the second year of performance for 23 Pioneer ACOs, and final results from the first year of performance for 220 Shared Savings Program ACOs.
Meanwhile, the ACOs outperformed published benchmarks for quality and patient experience last year and improved significantly on almost all measures of quality and patient experience this year.
“We all have a stake in improving the quality of care we receive, while spending our dollars more wisely,” Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in a statement. “It’s good for businesses, for our middle class, and for our country's global competitiveness. That’s why at HHS we are committed to partnering across sectors to make progress."
Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, more than 360 Medicare ACOs have been established in 47 states, serving over 5.6 million Americans with Medicare.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.