Caravan Health, which helps community health systems build accountable care and population health programs, is launching a nationwide collaborative accountable care organization.
Serving approximately 225,000 attributed Medicare beneficiaries, this will be one of the largest ACOs operating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, Caravan said. Kansas City-based Caravan Health works with more than 250 health systems, 14,000 providers, and more than 1 million patient lives. Its affiliated ACOs saved $54 million last year, returning $15 million of those savings to providers in the ACOs, the company said.
CMS’s updated Medicare Shared Savings ACO Program, titled Pathways to Success, will require ACOs to take responsibility for financial losses within two or three years. The new, large ACO organization is designed to get health providers ready for a faster path to risk. Caravan has determined that the best way for providers to succeed in value-based payment is by working together and scaling up.
"Especially now that ACOs must take on risk more quickly, it's more important than ever to achieve scale to get predictable and true results,” said Lynn Barr, CEO and founder of Caravan Health, in a statement. “With our collaborative ACO model, everyone has a voice in governance and health care decisions remain local."
One of the provider groups in the new collaborative is Winona Health in rural Minnesota. "This new partnership is a great opportunity for local providers to engage in care transformation and transition to value-based payment with a team of trusted professionals," said Rachelle Schultz, president and CEO of Winona Health, in a prepared statement.
