Mixed Outcomes for MSSP ACO Savings

High-cost ACOs in Medicare’s Shared Savings Program had an easier time earning shared savings than low-cost ones.

In accordance to a report from Leavitt Partners, 42% of accountable care organizations (ACO) residing in high-cost markets in the Medicare’s Shared Savings Program (MSSP) earned shared savings, while only 18% of agencies residing in low-cost markets earned shared savings. ACOs in the highest cost segment earned an average of $2.1 million, while ACOs from the lowest cost quintile earned $357,000. 26 percent of ACOs earned shared savings, the report stated. Although, these savings were very concentrated among a small amount of ACOs.

“The top 10 ACOs’ earned shared savings accounted for 30% of all 333 ACOs’ earned shared savings,” Leavitt Partners claimed. “While some ACOs are performing meaningfully well, most are not.”

Researchers pointed out that ACOs that covered more individuals typically didn’t earn more shared savings. However, they were capable to earn higher average quality scores.

The top 10 earning ACOs typically had higher quality scores. However, higher quality scores did not necessarily equate to shared savings, the researchers said. About 40% of ACOs in the most expensive markets “still failed to earn shared savings,” the report said.

ACOs Keep Growing Across USA

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act led to the development of the Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center, which suddenly brought the creation of accountable care agencies and the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Over the last various years, the number of accountable care organizations has grown tremendously around the country.

Leavitt Partners along with the Accountable Care Learning Collaborative made a study in the month of January 2016, as reported by the Health Affairs Blog that found a total of 838 accountable care organizations across all fifty states in the nation. In fact, the number of accountable care organizations has grown by 12.6% in just the last year.

In addition to these findings, there is currently more than 1,200 accountable care contracts being executed across hospitals throughout the US. The study discovered that 28.3 million sufferers are now getting medical services through an accountable care organization or ACO.

The Medicare Shared Savings Program is now on its 3^rd year and many ACOs have renewed their contracts while various have decided to forego another year performing under the accountable care contract.