Officials announce 89 more ACOs caring for 1.2 million on Medicare

The addition brings to 154 the total number of ACOs giving care to 2.4 million beneficiaries of Medicare. CMS says the program could save $940 million over four years.

Bloomberg: Medicare Cost-Saving Groups Sign Up For Coordination Bid
The groups of U.S. hospitals and physician agreeing to coordinate care for Medicare patients has almost tripled this year to 154 as the organizations seek a share of $1.9 billion in additional government payments. Medicare, the U.S. health plan for the elderly, signed up 89 new accountable care organizations this year as of July 1, including Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement today. About 2.4 million of Medicare's 49 million beneficiaries get care from the groups, which promise to harmonize services and reduce waste in exchange for a share of savings they produce for the government (Wayne, 7/9).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: ACO Rollout Continues With 89 New Networks
The next round of accountable care organizations is out at last. On Monday, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the selection of 89 new ACOs. That's more than triple the number of ACOs selected in the previous round. As of July 1, the newly anointed networks became responsible for providing better, cheaper care to 1.2 million seniors on Medicare (Gold, 7/9).

CQ HealthBeat: 89 New ACOs Join Medicare Program
The number of accountable care organizations in Medicare is growing faster than industry leaders had predicted when the program's rules were finalized last fall. ... The 2.4 million Medicare beneficiaries participating in ACOs is still a minority in the 46-million-patient Medicare program. ... ACOs bring groups of doctors and other medical providers together to coordinate care for Medicare patients. The federal government could save up to $940 million over four years from the initiative, according to CMS. Almost half the ACOs are physician-driven groups serving fewer than 10,000 beneficiaries (Adams, 7/9).

News stories detail the local groups that have formed ACOs --

Health News Florida: 10 More FL Medical Groups Win ACO Designation
Ten Florida medical groups totaling almost 1,300 doctors have gained federal designation as "Accountable Care Organizations," which means they are responsible for making sure Medicare patients have easy access to the services they need without duplication and waste. ... The total number of Florida doctors involved in the effort, well over 1,000, means that the ACO style of medical practice could now touch hundreds of thousands of Medicare patients in the state (Gentry, 7/9).

Baltimore Sun: Medicare Recipients To Get More Coordinated Care
Four doctor groups across Maryland have been chosen by the federal Department of Health and Human Services for a program that aims to cut health costs and better coordinate care for Medicare recipients. … In Maryland, the doctor groups include: Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC, located in Hollywood with 109 physicians; Greater Baltimore Health Alliance Physicians LLC, affiliated with Greater Baltimore Medical Center with 399 physicians; Maryland Accountable Care Organization of Eastern Shore LLC with 15 physicians; and Maryland Accountable Care Organization of Western MD LLC with 23 physicians (Cohn, 7/9).

Chicago Sun-Times: Two Illinois Health Care Groups Picked For New Medicare Program
Two Illinois-based health care groups have been selected to join a new Medicare program designed to improve elderly patient care and lower costs, the Obama administration announced Monday. Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care, one of the nation's largest accountable care organizations, and Chicago Health System, based in Westmont and a part of Vanguard Health Chicago, were among the 89 organizations (Thomas, 7/9).

Detroit Free Press: Medicare Teams With 3 Michigan Providers To Improve Seniors' Health Care
Medicare officials today announced it has signed contracts with three Michigan health care organizations to improve care to seniors, including a large program with 1,500 doctors caring for some 27,000 Medicare recipients in the Oakwood Healthcare system. Two other Michigan groups to get the three-and-a-half-year contracts are the Southeast Michigan Accountable Care Inc, with 333 doctors in Dearborn; and the Accountable Healthcare Alliance, with 29 East Lansing doctors. The federal contracts with the Accountable Care Organizations, as they are called, can lead to future bonuses if they achieve 80-90 percent of 33 quality measurements, such as prevention of inpatient infections, said Dr. Belal Abdallah, chairman of the Oakwood ACO (Anstett, 7/9).