News: More accountable care organizations exist now than ever before

CMS released data online listing 561 accountable care organizations (ACOs) and 10.5 million assigned beneficiaries for performance year 2018, HealthLeaders Media reported. Last year, for contrast, the list included 480 ACOs and nine million beneficiaries.

The report also shows a slight increase in average quality scores over the years, up from 91.44% in 2015 to 94.65% in 2016, which equates to more than $700 million in performance payments. The quality score results for 2017 were not released with the report.

“From our perspective, we are looking to help hospitals and clinicians improve the quality of care they provide and do it in a sustainable way that supports their business needs,” Tim Gronniger, MHSA, MPP, told HealthLeaders Media. Gronniger is a former CMS official in the Obama administration and the current vice president of development and strategy for Caravan Health, based in Kansas City, Missouri.

This past year, Caravan Health added 15 ACOs to its existing 23, according to HealthLeaders Media. This expansion reflects a confidence in the Medicare Shared Savings Plan’s benefits and durability, despite some uncertainty due to how the Trump administration might change the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

“I think that some of the uncertainty that was there in 2017 with the new administration, I think a lot of that has disappeared,” Gronniger told HealthLeaders Media. “There’s a clear direction that MACRA is staying and that there’s still really strong financial reasons to be in an ACO, even apart from all of the clinical and patient experience side of things.”

Editor’s note: This article was adapted from the original from HealthLeaders Media. To read the fast facts document from CMS regarding ACOs, click here. To read more about 2018 ACO information from CMS, click here.