Medicare shared savings programs: Higher cost ACOs more likely to achieve savings

In a recent study, the PATH collaborative examined the 2013 results for 220 ACOs from the Medicare Shared Savings Program to assess key characteristics associated with generating savings. They found that ACOs with higher baseline expenditures were significantly more likely to generate savings than lower cost ACOs, but that the average quality scores for ACOs that reported on quality were not different between organizations that did or did not generate savings. The findings suggest that ACOs that had lower utilization before they enrolled in the MSSP are less likely to see financial rewards from the program.