Medicare ACOs Continue to Improve Quality of Care, Generate Shared Savings

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued 2014 quality and financial performance results showing that more Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to generate financial savings while improving the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries by fostering greater collaboration between doctors, hospitals, and health care providers.

When an ACO demonstrates that it has achieved high-quality care and effectively reduced spending of health care dollars above certain thresholds, it is able to share in the savings generated for Medicare. In 2014, 20 Pioneer and 333 Shared Savings Program ACOs generated more than $411 million in savings, which includes all ACOs savings and losses. The results also show that ACOs with more experience in the program tend to perform better over time.

Medicare ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to provide coordinated high quality care to their Medicare patients. The goal of coordinated care is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. When an ACO exceeds quality and financial thresholds – demonstrating achievement of high-quality care and wiser spending of health care dollars – it is able to share in the savings generated for Medicare.

“I am delighted to announce that Seton Accountable Care Organization, Inc. (Seton ACO) achieved almost $10.6 million in savings for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare’s (CMS) Medicare Shared Savings Program for Fiscal Year 2014,” Seton ACO President Jeff Cook said. “Seton ACO was awarded approximately half of those savings, almost $5.3 million, to share with its participating provider groups, including Austin Regional Clinic, Lone Star Circle of Care and Seton Adult Inpatient Medical Services, and to reinvest in the ACO’s administration and services.

“I thank my entire team and our partners for this impressive accomplishment, which is further evidence of Seton’s commitment to provide coordinated, patient-centered care for Central Texas,” Cook said.

For more detailed quality and financial results, click here.

Additional Resources
Visit the Medicare Shared Savings Program News and Updates webpage to access the HHS press release and fact sheet, the link to the Performance Year 2014 results file, and to learn more about the program.