Thirty-two groups were named by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday to test a new health care model, called for in the health care law, which is designed to improve quality of health care while reducing costs.
The groups, which range from Boston-based Partners Healthcare, the largest health care provider in Massachusetts, to San Francisco-based Brown & Toland, were selected as the first Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) by HHS. The networks, which begin January 1, are designed to save $1 billion over five years by promoting coordination between doctors and hospitals and ensuring that people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure get the care they need to stay out of the hospital.
The Pioneer ACO Model is designed for health care organizations and providers that are already experienced in coordinating care for patients across care settings. It will allow these provider groups to move more rapidly from a shared savings payment model to a population-based payment model on a track consistent with, but separate from, the Medicare Shared Savings Program. And it is designed to work in coordination with private payers by aligning provider incentives, which will improve quality and health outcomes for patients across the ACO, and achieve cost savings for Medicare, employers and patients.
The payment models being tested in the first two years of the Pioneer ACO Model are a shared savings payment policy with generally higher levels of shared savings and risk for Pioneer ACOs than levels currently proposed in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. In year three of the program, participating ACOs that have shown a specified level of savings over the first two years will be eligible to move a substantial portion of their payments to a population-based model. These models of payments will also be flexible to accommodate the specific organizational and market conditions in which Pioneer ACOs work.
The Pioneer ACO Model includes strong patient protections to ensure that patients have access to and receive high quality care. To accomplish this goal, Pioneer ACOs will be expected to improve the health and experience of care for individuals, improve the health of populations, and reduce the rate of growth in health care spending. Participating ACOs will be held financially accountable for the care provided to their aligned beneficiaries. In addition, CMS will publicly report the performance of Pioneer ACOs on quality metrics, including patient experience ratings, on its website.
Click here for the full list of selected Pioneer ACOs. Click here for the Pioneer ACO Fact Sheet. Click here for FAQs about ACOs and Pioneer ACOSs.
