3 Next Generation ACOs have left program since January

Three of the 21 participants in CMS's newest accountable care organization (ACO) model have dropped out in the program’s first year, according to data released by the agency.

The first to go was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based River Health ACO. After being selected in January, it had said the Next Generation ACO model was “an important step towards advancing models of care that reward value over volume in care delivery.” By February 1, however, the group decided to end its participation, saying “projections do not indicate that the ACO would be able to meet the current target set by CMS,” according to the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal.

WakeMed Key Community Care in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Heritage California ACO in Northridge, Calififornia, were the other two departures. Heritage said in an emailed statement it will “partially participate” in the program this year, with full participation in 2017, though it didn’t explain why it’s scaling back for 2016.

Heritage had previously participated in the Pioneer ACO model from 2012 through 2015. It said it became one of the largest ACOs in the earlier risk-based model, which had seen its fair share of departures, with only nine of the original 32 participants remaining in the program.

CMS is expected to announce the 2017 participants in Next Generation ACO sometime in August.