ACO study from JAMA retracted due to errors in federal data
A June 2016 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine that found “modest savings on average” from accountable care organizations (ACOs) has been retracted and replaced after errors were discovered in the CMS data used by researchers.
Lead study author Carrie Colla, PhD, of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice told Retraction Watch that CMS “let us know in the fall [2016] that there were errors in the files, but weren’t able to give us final replacement files until winter.” She claimed the changes didn’t warrant changes to the study’s conclusions, which were similar to her 2014 study on an earlier ACO demo.
The retraction notice, however, did report some “important changes” to specific results, such as finding no reductions in emergency department visits or skilled nursing facility spending among certain cohorts and finding a small but statistically significant increase in 30-day readmission rates.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.