Link: New ACOs
According to a news release in Healthcare Finance, " The number of accountable care organizations in Medicare’s Shared Savings Program will grow by 89 in January 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said this week, boosting the total participants to 405.
Participating ACOs will now serve more than 7.2 million patients."
Section 3022 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required CMS to establish a shared savings program to facilitate coordination and cooperation among providers. The shared savings provision of the ACO model is designed to encourage participating providers to redesign their practice workflow and includes a focus on improved health for populations.
When an ACO succeeds in both delivering high-quality care and spending wisely by avoiding unnecessary duplication of services, it will share in the savings it provides for the Medicare program. ACO’s can participate in Medicare shared savings, but the flip side is that they can also share in Medicare losses if their costs do not meet established benchmarks. Shared savings begins on the first dollar for all ACOs once the minimum savings rate has been achieved.
