Innovations in Medicare ACOs’ Approaches to Care Delivery Improvement

Since 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has facilitated peer-to-peer learning among Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to help them improve the quality of care delivered to Medicare beneficiaries while reducing costs. Over the years, ACOs have tested a number of new programs and innovative strategies to improve the health of their patient populations and deliver more value-based care. A new series of written products developed under CMS’s ACO learning systems captures some of these innovative strategies. As CMS continues to launch new policy opportunities designed to encourage the transition to value-based care and two-sided risk models, the insights captured in these resources, and the experiences of current ACOs, might be of increased interest to health care providers.

Mathematica’s Center for Health Care Effectiveness held a webinar to learn more about these resources and to hear from several ACOs about their approaches to improving care delivery. In addition, CMS officials discussed new Medicare policy opportunities for organizations interested in participating in alternative payment models.

Speakers included the following:

Sonya Streeter, Mathematica

Dr. Terri Postma, CMS Center for Medicare

Heather Grimsley, CMS Center for Medicare

Vanessa Guzman, Montefiore ACO

Doug Johnson, Dialysis Clinic Inc.

Frank Shipp, ColigoCare ACO