Skilled nursing wants bigger piece of ACO pie. A new model that shows paying provides for upgrades — and outcomes — could pay off

McKnight's August 11, 2019
Kimberly Marselas

Paying subsidies to offset the cost of making patient care more efficient could boost participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Plan and save Medicare up to 40%.

Those are the findings of a new data-driven model that examines why more providers aren’t benefiting from related accountable care organizations, which covered one-sixth of all Medicare enrollees in 2017. They found one major obstacle was the cost of investing in improvements such as information technology needed for care coordination or quality improvements meant to target readmission rates.

“To generate savings, a provider must invest to improve efficiency, which is a cost that is absorbed entirely by the provider,” reported researchers at the University of California-Berkeley. An alternate model that reimburses providers for...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor