ACOs using medical home physicians save money, yield higher quality, report finds

With 10% of the U.S. population in ACOs and almost 1,000 available around the country, these findings are widely applicable for healthcare players in both the public and private sectors as they work out new payment models amid the turbulent rise of value-based care.

This report, co-created by the PCPCC and the Robert Graham Center, coalesces two promising approaches in the space, as PCMHs and ACOs (although created separately) both exist in the same ecosystem focused on outcomes-driven care.

PCMH is a care delivery model where a patient's care is coordinated through their PCP, and the system aims to produce coordinated, team-based holistic treatment. They have become more widespread over the past decade, with nearly 500 public and private sector PCMH initiatives being tracked across the U.S., according to the report.

Introduced in 2006, ACOs are similar but more broad. They hold groups of providers across different care settings accountable for both the cost and the quality of a cohort of patients. The providers therefore share the risks and rewards of patients' health, prioritizing value.

"ACOs and patient-centered medical homes are cut out of the same cloth," said Robert Mechanic, executive director of the Institute for Accountable Care in a panel convened by PCPCC on Wednesday.