CHESS is pleased to announce the addition of Catawba Valley Medical Group and Wake Forest University Health Sciences to the CHESS NextGen, LLC Accountable Care Organization (ACO) for 2018. Catawba Valley Medical Group and Wake Forest University Health Sciences will be joining Cornerstone Health Care, LLC in the ACO. Their participation in the Next Generation ACO Model demonstrates each participant’s commitment to improving the quality of care while reducing unnecessary costs.
The Next Generation ACO Model is at the forefront of redesigning healthcare delivery, and payment. The Model is an initiative for ACOs experienced in coordinating care for populations of beneficiaries. It allows these provider groups to assume higher levels of financial risk and reward than are available under the current Medicare Shared Savings Program. The goal of the Model is to test whether strong financial incentives for ACOs, coupled with tools to support better patient engagement and care management, can improve health outcomes and lower expenditures for Original Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries. Both Catawba Valley Medical Center and Wake Forest University Health Sciences participated in the CHESS MSSP, LLC ACO in 2017.
CMS announced that there are 58 ACOs participating in the Model in 2018, which is an increase from the 45 Next Generation ACOs that participated in 2017. CMS previously announced the 561 ACOs participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which results in a combined 619 Medicare ACOs for 2018.