10 Obstacles Hospitals Face in Achieving Cost Savings

In light of news that nine of CMS' 32 Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations will exit the program, Paul Levy, former CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, wrote a blog post about the 10 obstacles to achieving mass-scale cost savings.

CMS recently released data showing all 32 Pioneer ACOs improved quality and patient satisfaction in their first performance year, but only 13 saved enough to share in savings with Medicare. Nine of the Pioneer ACOs are leaving the program — seven will transition to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and two will exit CMS' ACO program entirely.

These results did not take Mr. Levy by surprise, as he said he anticipated this outcome when the program was announced two years ago. The logic is embedded in economics. "The issue goes beyond the structural problem built into the Pioneer program," he wrote in the blog post. "The answer lies in the fact that you don't hire people into the healthcare system unless they are serving a growing demand for healthcare service. Little has changed to alter that growing demand."

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Source: Becker Hospital Review