Brown & Toland Physicians is a 1,500-physician independent practice association based in San Francisco, and 190 physicians from the group participated in the Pioneer ACO for its first year. The ACO covered 18,000 Medicare enrollees.
Brown & Toland’s costs for the first year came in at 6 percent less than what CMS had benchmarked, according to the report, due to improvements in care coordination and reductions in unnecessary admissions.
In light of the physicians’ success in savings, CMS officials have visited Brown & Toland to learn from its ACO approach, according to the report.
Of the 32 Pioneer ACOs, only 13 produced savings for the government. Furthermore, nine Pioneers informed CMS of their plans to leave the program: Seven plan to become Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs instead, while two are leaving the program entirely.
More Articles on Pioneer ACOs:
Updated Pioneer ACO Results Mean Good News for Atrius Health
Policy Experts: Pioneer ACO Results Show Good Potential
9 Fewer Pioneer ACOs: Healthcare Experts on What This Means for Accountable Care
