CMS introduces new ACO model for payment and care delivery reform
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an updated model of accountable care organization (ACO) that focuses on new payment and care delivery models.
Previously, CMS had introduced the Pioneer ACO model and the Medicare Shared Savings program. CMS said participants in the Next Generation ACO model will have more performance risk but can share in more savings than the earlier models.
Organizations can apply to participate in the Next Generation ACO model in 2015 and 2016. They will have up to a five-year commitment.
According to CMS, the new ACO model will lead to better coordination between providers and patients.
“The Next Generation ACO Model is one of many innovative payment and care delivery models created under the Affordable Care Act, and is an important step towards advancing models of care that reward value over volume in care delivery,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in a news release. “This model is part of our larger effort to set clear, measurable goals and a timeline to move the Medicare program--and the healthcare system at large--toward paying providers based on the quality, rather than the quantity of care they give patients.”
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.