CMS Launches New ACO Dialysis Model

Affordable Care Act model designed to improve care for beneficiaries with kidney failure while reducing costs

CMS announced the participants for the Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Care (CEC) Model, a new Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model. The CEC Model is designed specifically for beneficiaries with ESRD and builds on experiences from other models and programs with ACOs, including the Pioneer ACO Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

In the CEC Model, dialysis facilities, nephrologists, and other providers have joined together to form ESRD Seamless Care Organizations (ESCOs) to coordinate care for ESRD beneficiaries. ESCOs will be financially accountable for quality outcomes and Medicare Part A and B spending, including all spending for dialysis services, for their ESRD beneficiaries. The CEC Model includes separate financial arrangements for ESCOs with large and small dialysis organizations. For more information, visit the CEC Model web page.

See full text of this excerpted CMS press release (issued October 7), including a list of selected applicants.