Health & Fitness
UMass Memorial ACO Ranks Amongst Nation’s Highest Performers for
Organization leaders credit the success to an increased focus on quality and transitions of care.
From UMass Health: The UMass Memorial Accountable Care Organization (UMass Memorial ACO) reported today that it realized nearly $23 million in total savings for 2017. A survey of the recently released figures from the Centers Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that the UMass Memorial ACO ranked first in New England and 15th nationally in the final performance results for the 472 Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs. Organization leaders credit the success to an increased focus on quality and transitions of care. Included in the total savings are earned shared savings of $9.1 million.
More than $1 billion in gross savings was generated by MSSP ACOs with 60 percent of the participants making a contribution - exceeding the 56 percent of ACOs contributing to last year’s gross savings. Meanwhile the 34 percent of MSSP ACOs earning shared savings outpaced the 31 percent total from 2016. The UMass Memorial ACO consists of seven hospitals, four federally qualified health centers, 60 medical practices and 24 independent MDs; 456 providers in the ACO are primary care physicians and 1,441 providers are specialists.
“This is a result of a diverse team, with many components, coming together with one goal in mind: doing what is best for the patients in this ACO,” said John Greenwood, UMass Memorial ACO president. “The level of teamwork and coordination has been phenomenal. Congratulations and kudos to our providers who are on the front line collaborating and delivering quality patient care; our Board of Directors for their guidance and support; and our passionate population health team. This gives us tremendous momentum and provides a roadmap to success for our renewed program over the next three years.”
In response to mandates within The Affordable Care Act, CMS designed the Medicare Shared Savings Program to reward ACOs that improve both the quality and cost efficiency of health care. The UMass Memorial program – a Track 1 MSSP ACO – was established for 2015-2017 and has been renewed for 2018-2020.
Image via UMass Memorial
