HHS announces 89 new Accountable Care Organizations

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2012—The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 89 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) on July 1 began serving 1.2 million people with Medicare in 40 states and Washington.

ACOs are organizations formed by groups of doctors and other health care providers that have agreed to work together to coordinate care for people with Medicare. They share savings generated by the efficient management of patients.

The 89 new ACOs bring the total number of organizations participating in Medicare shared savings initiatives to 154. This number includes the 32 ACOs participating in the testing of the Pioneer ACO Model by CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation announced last December, and six Physician Group Practice Transition Demonstration organizations that started in January 2011.

In all more than 2.4 million beneficiaries receive care from providers participating in Medicare shared savings initiatives. The selected ACOs operate nationwide and almost half are physician-driven organizations serving fewer than 10,000 beneficiaries, demonstrating that smaller organizations are interested in operating as ACOs, HHS reported.