Study: Primary Care-Centric ACOs Outperform Other ACOs
Last month, the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) released its 2024 Evidence Report, Primary Care: The MVP of MSSP. PCC evaluated the performance of primary care Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The report was written in partnership with the AAFP Robert Graham Center and Simple Healthcare.
Researchers found that ACOs with more than 50 percent of physicians engaged in primary care consistently outperformed those with less than a majority of primary care physicians.
MSSP ACOs in the highest quintiles of primary care centricity were consistently more likely to generate savings, as compared to ACOs with a lower measure of primary care centricity, the report noted.
Additionally, the research concluded that primary care-centric ACOs were more likely to reduce costs and earn back savings through MSSP, resulting in 2.4 times as many savings as other ACOs over a six-year period.
“While it will take a multifaceted approach to substantively improve the U.S. healthcare system, growing evidence suggests that the combination of robust and appropriately financed primary care— in models where incentives are aligned across the system—delivers results,” Ann Greiner, president and CEO of PCC stated in a letter included in the report.
