We Need More Data on Medicaid ACOs to Determine Drivers of Success

Provider Payment Reform: Right Course, Wrong Students?,” a recent blog post authored by Chris Koller, President of the Milbank Memorial Fund, argues that while delivering high-value care to vulnerable populations is the “right coursework” for the US health care system, the “courses” (value-based payment (VBP) programs) should be targeted toward primary care practices, as opposed to specialists and hospitals. The blog post draws on recent research on the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), which found that accountable care organizations (ACOs) led by primary care providers (PCPs) or with officially designated patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), tend to perform better on cost and quality than those without these characteristics. Koller concludes, “Medicare and commercial payer ACOs and other provider accountability efforts should focus on enhancing the roles, expectations, and centrality of primary care teams, perhaps starting with requiring that governance and leadership of the ACOs come from the primary care community.”

Go to top