Accountable care organizations (ACOs) to know

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) to know October 10, 2018

The growth of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), those groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients, is evident in the fact that there are now 649 ACOs across the country. Becker’s Hospital Review recently compiled a list of 144 of those ACOs, “to highlight ACOs across the country and examine the opportunities for improving quality care and care coordination.”

Some of the ACOs on the list were established as long ago as 2008; some were just formed in January 2018. Some are based in large cities, while others are in small towns. A few of the ACOs to know, selected randomly from the Becker’s Hospital Review list, include:

ThedaCare ACO (Appleton, Wis.).  First established in partnership with Green Bay, Wis.-based Bellin Health in 2008, ThedaCare was selected for the CMS Pioneer ACO program in 2012. In three years, the ACO was responsible for nearly $14 million in savings for the federal government. ThedaCare ACO then became a Next Generation ACO to take on risk.

Heritage California ACO (Northridge, Calif.). CMS selected Heritage California ACO to participate in the Pioneer ACO Model in 2012. Heritage California ACO transitioned to the Next Generation ACO Model in 2016 to continue providing value-based care.

Kootenai Accountable Care (Coeur D’Alene, Idaho). The Kootenai Care Network is a clinically integrated network that includes Coeur D’Alene, Idaho-based Kootenai Clinic’s 200 providers as well as independent providers. Kootenai Accountable Care is a Track 1 participant in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

LifeBridge Health ACO (Baltimore). LifeBridge Health ACO includes 594 participants and covers 19,000 lives. The ACO includes more than 160 primary care providers and more than 400 specialists. LifeBridge Health ACO participates in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and achieved quality scores of 100 percent in 2015.

NewHealth Collaborative (Akron, Ohio). NewHealth Collaborative is in its seventh year of operation. The Track 1 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO includes 250 primary care physicians supported by 650 member and affiliate specialist physicians. The clinician-led ACO reported $3 million in shared savings for the 2015 performance year and distributed 63 percent of the savings to ACO participants.

UnityPoint Accountable Care (West Des Moines). The ACO is part of the CMS Next Generation ACO Model and reported $10.5 million in shared savings for the 2016 performance year. UnityPoint Accountable Care distributed 100 percent of the savings to ACO participants.

Signature Partners (Falls Church, Va.). Signature Partners is an ACO serving patients in Northern Virginia. As a collaborative of more than 1,700 physicians, the organization aims to use the clinically integrated network and EHR technology to better coordinate care.

Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance (McAllen, Texas). Seventeen primary care physicians make up Rio Grande Valley Health Alliance. The ACO is a Track 3 participant in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and reported $6.2 million in shared savings for the 2016 performance year.