Weekly News Roundup: June 21, 2019

Success in the Medicare Shared Savings Program

Big changes are in store for MSSP ACOs with the Pathways to Success final rule poised to take affect soon. In this week’s news roundup: strategies to help ACOs boost savings; why changes to MSSP may be the beginning of an important cultural shift; a new study finds that MSSP ACOs do not improve savings or quality; and how downside risk will impact participation in Pathways to Success.

Healthcare’s Next Revolution: Finding Success in the Medicare Shared Savings Program

Data is the catalyst for healthcare’s next revolution. Today’s healthcare providers and administrators have an incredible opportunity to participate in what may be the biggest societal shift of a lifetime: the move from a fee-for-service (FFS) payer model to value-based care (VBC). Read More

Three Strategies to Help Accountable Care Organizations Boost Savings

ACOs should focus on interventions for the seriously ill population, home visits, and health IT for care coordination to continue to generate savings under evolving models. Read More

MSSP ACOs Do Not Improve Savings or Quality, Study Finds

High-cost patients and high-cost doctors were much more likely to exit ACOs than low-cost patients and doctors, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine Monday. Researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed data from more than 6 million Medicare beneficiaries between 2008 to 2014 and measured total spending, four quality indicators, and hospitalization for a broken hip. Read More

How Downside Risk Will Impact Participation in Pathways to Success

Providers queued up eagerly to partake in the Medicare Shared Savings Program when the rewards outweighed the risks, but many ACOs exited the program as the balance of risk shifted to their perceived disadvantage. Read More