Early Effects of an Accountable Care Organization Model for Underserved Areas

NEJM August 8, 2019
Matthew J. Trombley, Ph.D., Betty Fout, Ph.D., Sasha Brodsky, Ph.D., J. Michael McWilliams, M.D., Ph.D., David J. Nyweide, Ph.D., and Brant Morefield, Ph.D.

BACKGROUND

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Investment Model (AIM) to encourage the growth of Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs in rural and underserved areas. AIM provides financial support to eligible MSSP ACOs by means of prepayment of shared savings. Estimation of the performance of AIM ACOs on measures of spending and utilization in their first performance year would be useful for understanding the viability of ACOs located in these areas.

METHODS

We analyzed Medicare claims and enrollment data for a group of fee-for-service beneficiaries who had been attributed to 41 AIM ACOs and for a comparable group of beneficiaries who resided in the ACO markets but were served primarily...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor