Medicare awards 8 million to Philadelphia-area organizations for cost savings and achieving healthcare quality goals.

Physician organizations in the Philadelphia area achieved significant financial success through performance incentives linked to the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2023, collectively earning over 8 million in bonuses for their efforts in delivering quality care and reducing Medicare costs. This data, reported from federal sources, highlights a growing trend among localized healthcare systems in optimizing patient outcomes while efficiently managing resources.

For the second consecutive year, Aledade Accountable Care 15 LLC, a private physician group functioning as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, emerged as the top performer in this initiative. Aledade, headquartered in Maryland, plays a crucial role in supporting independent primary care doctors in their management of Medicare patients.

The Aledade Accountable Care 15 LLC was one of 13 ACOs in the Philadelphia region participating in a program aimed at enhancing care quality and efficiency for millions of Americans enrolled in traditional Medicare. These organizations can secure bonuses based on their performance in various domains, including preventive care, chronic illness management, and patient satisfaction. The 13 local ACOs together served approximately 256,000 individuals, comprised of independent physician groups and those linked with established health systems.

Nationally, the Medicare Shared Savings Program saw participation from 477 ACOs serving over 10 million patients, accumulating .1 billion in performance bonuses and producing .4 billion in savings for Medicare compared to preset cost benchmarks. Despite covering fewer individuals than the 34.1 million enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans, both initiatives share the underlying goal of managing patient care to enhance quality and control costs.

The local ACOs achieved nearly 8 million in bonuses, with Aledade Accountable Care 15 acknowledging a notable 16.6% savings rate and earning million, while attending to 21,249 patients. Additionally, the group’s savings rate has seen an upward trend from 15.4% in the previous year, despite a 10% decrease in patient numbers.

Another notable ACO, a partnership of Thomas Jefferson University, Main Line Health, and Humana, reported a 6.4% savings rate, leading to a million bonus—an increase of nearly 50% compared to 2023. This joint venture, known as the Accountable Care Organization of Pennsylvania, catered to 74,756 patients.

Tandigm Value Partners, an ACO operated by Tandigm Health—a collaboration between Independence Blue Cross and Penn Medicine—witnessed the most significant improvement in savings rate, rising from 8.4% to 13.4%. Meanwhile, Penn Medicine Healthcare Partners, a new ACO launched last year, managed 32,860 patients with a savings rate of 1.6%, earning a .3 million bonus.

Under the program established through the Affordable Care Act, physicians are encouraged to reinvest their bonus earnings to improve their practices, while Medicare retains a portion of the savings generated through these initiatives, thereby aligning financial incentives with quality care outcomes.

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