Medicare ACO saves The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) more than $7.8 million in the state of Tennessee
NASHVILLE – Saint Thomas Health and Ascension Care Management announced today that their partnership has improved the health of Medicare beneficiaries while saving CMS more $7.8 million in medical costs in Tennessee. This announcement stems from CMS’ recently released Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) 2017 performance year results which showed that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to make significant improvements in the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while achieving cost savings.
Medicare ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to provide coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients. In order for an ACO to share in MMSP’s total savings, an ACO must exceed CMS’ quality and financial thresholds for that performance year.
“The success of our Accountable Care Organization is the result of focused, high quality care and collaborative partnerships among hospitals, physicians, and care navigators.” said Paul Posey, CEO of ACM. “Incorporating crucial services such as home visits, health coaching and preventative care as part of a holistic plan for healthcare delivery for our ACO members, we not only lowered overall healthcare costs, but were able to meet CMS’ high quality performance standards to improve the healthcare of nearly 40,000 Medicare beneficiaries.”
In total, the 472 Medicare ACOs who participated including St. Thomas Health, generated a total gross savings of $1.1 billion for 2017. The performance year results also shared that that more ACOs achieved shared savings last year compared to 2016, and those with more experience tend to perform better over time.
“As part of Ascension, Saint Thomas Health is working to transform the way healthcare is delivered,” states Tim Adams, President/CEO of Saint Thomas Health and Ministry Market Executive, Ascension Tennessee. “We are looking to the value of the care we deliver, as demonstrated through improved clinical outcomes, reduced costs, appropriate levels of care and a focus on the needs of our patients’ entire health status. By working with Ascension Care Management, our providers and their patients, we’ve been able to make care more affordable while providing more coordinated services to those we serve.”
Additional Resources
Visit the Medicare Shared Savings Program News and Updates webpage to learn more about the program.
ABOUT SAINT THOMAS HEALTH
In Tennessee, Ascension’s Saint Thomas Health operates nine hospitals in addition to a comprehensive network of affiliated joint ventures, medical practices, clinics and rehabilitation facilities that cover a 68-county area and employ more than 8,000 associates. Across the state, Saint Thomas Health provided more than $127 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2018. Serving Tennessee for 15 years, Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, operating more than 2,600 sites of care – including 151 hospitals and more than 50 senior living facilities – in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Visit www.sthealth.com.
ABOUT ASCENSION CARE MANAGEMENT
Ascension Care Management (ACM) strives to improve access to healthcare while reducing complexity from the delivery of healthcare. ACM was formed when Ascension brought together its population health services and risk management divisions with a national third-party administrator and health insurance company. Together, these companies are creating solutions that stabilize healthcare costs, improve the health of patients and enhance the health experience for both providers and individuals. ACM employs over 700 healthcare professionals in 20 locations, manages over 310,000 lives, has saved over $63 million for its clients via population health programs and manages over $2.1 billion in medical spend. ACM is a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation’s largest nonprofit health system. For more information, please visitwww.ascensioncaremanagement.com
ABOUT ASCENSION
Ascension (www.ascension.org) is a faith-based healthcare organization dedicated to transformation through innovation across the continuum of care. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. In FY2018, Ascension provided nearly $2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 156,000 associates and 34,000 aligned providers. Ascension’s Healthcare Division operates more than 2,600 sites of care – including 151 hospitals and more than 50 senior living facilities – in 21 states and the District of Columbia, while its Solutions Division provides a variety of services and solutions including physician practice management, venture capital investing, investment management, biomedical engineering, facilities management, clinical care management, information services, risk management, and contracting through Ascension’s own group purchasing organization.
