The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the 2015 performance year results for the Medicare Shared Savings Program and the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model that show physicians, hospitals and health care providers participating in Accountable Care Organizations continue to make significant improvements in the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while achieving cost savings.
In 2015, Medicare Accountable Care Organizations had combined total program savings of $466 million, which includes all Accountable Care Organizations’ experiences, for 392 Medicare Shared Savings Program participants and 12 Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model participants. The results show that more Accountable Care Organizations shared savings in 2015 compared to 2014, and those with more experience 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.
LifeBridge Health ACO, LLC, is among the ACOs that received shared savings.
“At LifeBridge Health, we are proud to be among the national leaders in quality and cost savings as fewer than one-third of Medicare ACOs nationwide received this recognition in 2015. This achievement reaffirms our commitment to offer the best and most cost effective care for our patients,” says Neil Meltzer, president and CEO of LifeBridge Health.
He adds, “And, while we talk about numbers and outcomes and quality, at the end of the day, we are talking about people and providing the best care possible for them, fulfilling the very mission of LifeBridge Health itself to maintain and improve health in the communities we serve.”
Additional Resources
Visit the Medicare Shared Savings Program News and Updates webpage to access the CMS press release and fact sheet, the link to the Performance Year 2015 results file, and to learn more about the program.
