Association Between Medicare Accountable Care Organization Implementation and Spending Among Clinically Vulnerable Beneficiaries

Abstract

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are one of the largest payment and delivery reforms currently under way in the United States. Over 700 ACO contracts are now in place, covering 23 million Americans.¹ Accountable care organizations are groups of health care providers collectively held responsible for the cost and quality of care for a defined patient population. Early evidence suggests that ACOs are improving quality and modestly affecting health care costs.^2-5 These gains have led to further policy changes intended to accelerate adoption of these and other alternative payment models such as the Next Generation ACO model, Accountable Health Communities model, Comprehensive ESRD Care model, and Oncology Care model.^6-9