High Point – CHESS Value Accountable Care Organization (ACO) has generated $2.92 million in health care cost savings while earning an overall quality score of 97.95 percent in 2018. These financial and quality results were achieved through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Shared Savings Program. CHESS Value was one of nine ACOs in North Carolina to generate savings.
ACOs are health care organizations that can provide better resources to and foster greater collaboration among health care providers. “The data we see year after year is proof that a team approach to caring for each beneficiary results in better outcomes and greater savings,” says Yates Lennon, MD, interim president and chief transformation officer, CHESS. “Through sharing of information and innovative practices, beneficiaries are receiving better care at lower costs.”
CHESS Value, LLC is a physician-led ACO that represents a group of health care providers working together to keep Medicare beneficiaries healthy through prevention, innovation, care coordination and information sharing. In 2018, CHESS Value ACO was comprised of AdventHealth Hendersonville (Fletcher Hospital), Carolina Ophthalmology, and Grace Hematology and Oncology.
When an ACO can deliver high-quality care and spend health care dollars more wisely, the ACO will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program. By working together, beneficiaries are more likely to get the right care at the right time. In addition, there is a higher quality of care and less wasted money from unnecessary duplication of services and medical errors.
In total, 2018 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs nationally generated $739 million in net savings to Medicare, and gross savings over $1.7 billion. These results demonstrate that physicians, hospitals and health care providers participating in ACOs continue to make significant improvements in the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while achieving cost savings.