ACOs More Likely to be in Markets with Hospital, Doctor Consolidation

In five markets around the country, accountable care organizations were providing care to more than half the Medicare patients in the traditional fee-for-service program, a new study found. In addition, ACOs were more likely to be found in markets with greater consolidation by hospitals and doctors.

Researchers with Rand Corp. and Harvard University identified five markets where more than half the traditional Medicare beneficiaries were served by Medicare ACOs, either those participating in the Medicare Pioneer program or the Medicare Shared Savings program. The authors identified the markets in a map included in the study.

In another 26 hospital markets, Medicare ACOs served up 20% to up to half of seniors in traditional Medicare, the study found.

David Auerbach, one of the study's authors and a RAND policy researcher, said ACO prevalence may be greater in some markets than is reflected in the study's results because researchers could not include 106 Medicare ACOs, due to limited data.

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Source: Modern Healthcare