CMS – Reward Health

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

We’re up to 154 Medicare ACOs

Today, the CMS announced that it added another 89 ACOs to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). Including the original 6 Physician Group Practice Transition

Dr. Ward July 9, 2012 4 Comments

ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing

Of 27 new ACOs named by CMS: 93% avoid downside risk, 82% avoid CMS loans, 33% use payer-based infrastructure, and average beneficiaries per physician is 106

Yesterday, CMS announced the first batch of 27 “normal” ACOs under its Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). I found five things interesting about the list:

Dr. Ward April 11, 2012 2 Comments

ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing

CBO: Bundled payments for bypass surgery saved 10%, but pay-for-performance and gain-sharing was not effective in 3 Medicare demonstrations

Lyle Nelson from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has been busy. Two weeks ago, I commented on the results of Nelson’s review of 6 Medicare

Dr. Ward February 12, 2012 No Comments

Evaluation Methods

Congressional Budget Office: Care management programs only work if care managers have face to face contact with patients and substantial interaction with physicians

This month, Lyle Nelson of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a “working paper” summarizing the results of a decade of experience with 6 care management

Dr. Ward January 24, 2012 1 Comment

HHS Releases Final ACO Rule

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) today released the final rule for accountable care organizations (ACO). The new rule includes a number of changes designed

Dr. Ward October 20, 2011 No Comments