A rule that was recently proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would modernize the ways Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) that participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program are evaluated.
Recommendations featured in the rule include changes in the process by which benchmarks are set; using regional -- rather than national -- spending growth trends when establishing and updating an ACO's rebased benchmark; adding a participation option to facilitate an ACO’s transition to performance-based risk arrangements; and clarifying the timeline and other criteria for reopening determinations of ACO shared savings and shared losses.
The rule, CMS officials said, will make the Medicare program sustainable and will put in place long-term incentives for participating ACOs.
"Medicare payments are an important catalyst to improving care delivery, spending our resources smarter and keeping people healthy," Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator, said. "This proposal allows ACOs in all parts of the country to be successful by recognizing both their achievements and improvements in how they provide care. This should have the effect of growing the number of ACOs and making ACOs, and the coordinated care they provide to patients, more of a standard in all parts of the country."
The proposals were developed using input from stakeholders.
