Press Availability: New Research on High-Performing ACOs Relevant to CMS Changes

CMS administrator, Seema Verma, recently announced proposed rule changes impacting Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). In her announcement, Ms. Verma recognizes that physician-led ACOs achieve greater savings than other types of ACOs. In addition, the proposed rule underscores the importance of primary care for patients to successfully engage in managing their care as part of an ACO. These assertions are strongly supported by new research released by the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) showing that the road to value-based transformation runs through well-supported, high-functioning primary care. 

This past Wednesday, PCPCC published evidence, expert opinions, and secondary data finding that ACOs that leverage advanced primary care models achieve improved population health, lowered costs, and enhanced patient experiences to a greater extent than those that did not. Nearly all results were positive, although not all were statistically significant. PCPCC President and CEO, Ann Greiner, is available to discuss these findings with reporters and thought leaders considering the recent proposed changes to the ACO program.  

Public and private policymakers have spent more than a decade transforming care delivery and exploring alternative payment models to improve the quality of care. Two of the most promising approaches—the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and ACO—both focus on increasing coordinated, outcomes-driven care, but little research had been done on how these models interact to achieve the “triple aim” of better clinical quality, lower costs, and improved population health. PCPCC researchers found that ACOs and advanced primary care models are well-positioned to work together to achieve their respective goals. With a focus on population health management, ACOs depend on the tenets of strong primary care. Primary care, in turn, depends on the larger healthcare system to meet its full potential to improve patient outcomes.