Friday, September 15, 2023
The Beaumont ACO and West Michigan ACO improved patient care and generated $38.9 million in combined gross Medicare savings in the 2022 Medicare Shared Savings Program. The CMS program rewards ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) for the quality of care provided to patients and for managing the health care spend of those patients attributed to an ACO’s primary care physician members.
The West Michigan ACO earned $10.7 million in net shared savings – the highest among Michigan-based accountable care organizations – and earned an overall quality score of 82.89% - also tops among Michigan-based ACOs.
The Beaumont ACO earned $8.6 million in net shared savings and achieved an overall quality score of 80.90%.
“Strong relationships between our physician partners and Corewell Health are helping us move the needle on high efficiency, reduced costs and improved care,” said Beaumont Health ACO Board Chairman Dr. Belal Abdallah. “This work could not happen without everyone’s shared focus on what is best for patients from both care and cost perspectives.”
West Michigan ACO Board Chairman Dr. Terri Osborne echoed those sentiments saying, “The outstanding partnerships between our physician partners and the health system make these savings and quality scores possible. We look forward to building on these successes in the next year.”
ACO providers work to ensure patients with Medicare are receiving appropriate care, such as annual wellness visits and recommended screenings. The ACOs also focus on ensuring smooth patient transitions from the hospital to home or a nursing home, if needed, and coordinating care from multiple providers. ACO performance measures range from preventive health checks to managing chronic illnesses. Strong quality scores were earned through the coordination of care that patients receive from different primary and specialty care providers to prevent health issues and repeat hospitalizations and from a focus on medical coding.
The Beaumont ACO and West Michigan ACOs are physician and health system partnerships with more than 6,000 combined physician members caring for more than 66,000 patients. The West Michigan ACO is a partnership between the independent physicians of Answer Health and Lakeland Care Network and the health system. Both ACOs are organized around the principles of trust, transparency and physician leadership and have allowed physicians, hospitals and the system to share in cost savings resulting from their efforts to improve patient care and outcomes.
This is the eleventh consecutive year the Beaumont ACO achieved significant cost savings, dating back to its origin as the Oakwood ACO. This is the first year the West Michigan ACO has achieved significant cost savings. All ACOs must meet financial and quality targets set by Medicare to achieve shared savings.