Pioneer ACO

We are delighted to offer our congratulations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) on their recent announcement regarding the independent evaluation showing the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model generated a savings of $384 million to Medicare over its first two years. This report demonstrates that accountable care can reduce the growth in costs while also improving quality.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia M.

Atrius Health was honored to be among several panelists to participate in the 2014 Annual Cost Trends Hearing yesterday on “Challenges and Opportunities for Coordinated Care: Post-Acute Care.” Richard Lopez, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Atrius Health joined other panelists including representatives from Baystate Medical Center, Brockton Visiting Nurses Association and Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center to discuss the vital role that post-acute care plays in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

The following is a news release pertaining to results announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Newton, MA (September 16, 2014) – Atrius Health announced it was the highest quality ACO in New England based on the 33 ACO quality measures and the second highest quality Pioneer ACO in the country. Atrius Health’s medical groups achieved among the highest quality and patient experience scores nationally while also achieving savings for Medicare according to preliminary 2013 results released today by the Centers for Medicare &

Atrius Health was recently named by Becker’s Hospital Review, a leading healthcare industry publication, as one of the “100 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to Know” in 2014. Atrius Health has managed the continuum of care for its patients in commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans for decades.

“We are proud to be recognized for a second year as one of the nation’s leading ACOs.  The Atrius Health clinicians and staff are dedicated to achieving the triple aim of increasing quality,

Atrius Health was recently named by Becker’s Hospital Review, a leading healthcare industry publication, as one of the “100 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to Know” in 2013. The Becker’s editorial team recognized Atrius Health for its focus on quality improvement, cost reduction and population health management.

“We are proud to join the nation’s leading ACOs on this prestigious list, which is due to the work of our dedicated team across all of Atrius Health and our collaborations with hospital and community partners,” said Marci Sindell,

According to a report released in 2012 by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), almost 60 percent of emergency room visits and 25 percent of hospital admissions of Medicare patients were potentially preventable.

As part of Atrius Health’s efforts to reduce healthcare costs and provide high quality ambulatory care for our Medicare population, programs have been implemented to help reduce unnecessary hospitalization and emergency room (ER) visits by patients.

One of these programs being piloted by Granite Medical Group is the Intensive Home Based (IHB) program.

Atrius Health is pleased to announce that we do not have a shared loss in the first performance year of the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model. Our loss is small enough that it is considered within the statistical range of error.  This news differs from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) release two weeks ago that indicated Atrius Health was one of two Pioneer ACOs (out of the 14 that had a loss of any size) that had a shared loss in the model for 2012. 

The following is an excerpt from an email that Dr. Gene Lindsey sent to the Atrius Health practices.

Many of you have heard via external media or internal communications that Atrius Health was one of two Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for 2012 that would incur a shared loss.  In full, 14 ACOs showed a loss, but 12 did not share in the loss because of the financial models they chose.