KentuckyOne Health Partners is among 353 accountable care organizations (ACOs) that generated $411 million in savings, according to the 2014 quality and financial performance results released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
KentuckyOne Health Partners is a provider-based, physician-led clinically integrated network established by KentuckyOne Health in 2013. When an ACO demonstrates that it has achieved high-quality care and effectively reduces spending of health care dollars above specified thresholds, it can share in the savings generated for Medicare.
KentuckyOne Health Partners saved Medicare approximately $5.6 million and generated a shared savings payout of more than $2.1 million in 2014.
ACOs are judged on their performance on an array of metrics that assess the care they provide, including how highly patients rated their doctor, how well clinicians communicated, whether they screened for high blood pressure and tobacco use and cessation, and their use of electronic health records.
“In two short years, we have already begun to realize significant savings for CMS while continuing to improve care for our patients,” said Don Lovasz, president, KentuckyOne Health Partners. “We are very proud of the results that our clinicians and facilities have achieved thus far. The team is committed to better health, better care, better experience and lower cost for all patients touched by our providers.”
KentuckyOne Health Partners is among 333 Shared Savings Program ACOs nationwide and only eight such organizations in Kentucky. It is the only ACO in Kentucky approved by CMS to offer the streamlined care program for hip and knee replacements which has dramatically improved patient’s outcome, experience and cost.
In its release, CMS stated that, “Medicare Accountable Care Organizations continue to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while generating financial savings. ACOs are one way that the administration is working to provide Medicare beneficiaries with high-quality, person-centered care. Medicare ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers who voluntarily come together to provide coordinated care, with the goal of giving Medicare beneficiaries – especially the chronically ill – the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors.”
