Post-Acute Care Can Assist ACOs Save

Accountable care organizations may find financial chances in developing closer partnerships with post-acute care and long-term care services.

As the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) sustains to deploy new programs, evidence of the affect of existing models continues to trickle in. One consistent theme: the significance of, and opportunity presented by, improvements in the quality of post-acute care (PAC).

Earlier this month, the New England Journal of Medicine published an evaluation of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). As the results were mixed and largely consistent with prior evaluations of the Pioneer ACO program, this research did not generate much publicity.

Although, the study once again affirms the opportunity presented by improved post-acute management. For instance, MSSP ACOs achieved a 6.1 percent reduction in skilled nursing facility (SNF) spending that generated 36 percent of the overall savings in the year 2012. These savings represent just the tip of the improvement iceberg.