Steward Health Care System is a community-based accountable care organization and community hospital network with more than 17,000 employees serving more than one million patients annually in more than 150 communities. As a selected participant in the CMS Pioneer ACO program, Steward Health Care's network of specialists and primary care physicians will work together to develop treatment plans specific to each patient's health care needs. By working together to provide care that meets each individual's specific needs, Steward Health Care's ACO physicians will improve the quality of care delivery and make a difference in the overall health of their patient population.
The payment models being tested in the first two years of the Pioneer ACO Model are a shared savings payment policy with generally higher levels of shared savings and risk for Pioneer ACOs than levels currently proposed in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. In year three of the program, participating ACOs that have shown a specified level of savings over the first two years will be eligible to move a substantial portion of their payments to a population-based model. These models of payments will also be flexible to accommodate the specific organizational and market conditions in which Pioneer ACOs work.
