PY 2015 Medicare ACO Results

September 2, 2016
Policy Snapshot
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Payment, Accountable Care Organization (ACO)

On August 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the 2015 performance year results for the Medicare Shared Savings Program and the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model that show physicians, hospitals, and health care providers participating in ACOs continue to make significant improvements in the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while achieving cost savings. Collectively, Medicare ACOs have generated more than $1.29 billion in total Medicare savings since 2012.

In 2015, Medicare ACOs had combined total program savings of $466 million, which includes 392 Shared Savings Program participants and 12 Pioneer ACO Model participants. The results show that more ACOs shared savings in 2015 compared to 2014 and those with more experience tend to perform better over time.

All 12 participants in the Pioneer ACO Model improved their quality scores from 2012 to 2015 by more than 21 percentage points. Overall quality scores for nine out of 12 Pioneer participants were more than 90 percent in 2015.

ACOs in the Shared Savings Program also continued to show improvement, with ACOs that reported in both 2014 and 2015 improving on 84 percent of the quality measures that were reported in both years. Additionally, comparing 2014 and 2015 results, average quality performance improved by more than 15 percent on key preventive care measures.

For More Information:

See the full text of this excerpted CMS press release.