ACO Creates $12.2 Million in Medicare Savings, Representing Reduced Health Care Spend to Taxpayers

Mercy Health announces that Mercy Health Select, LLC ACO, its Accountable Care Organization, created $12.2 million in total savings for its Medicare population in 2019, representing a reduced health care spend to all taxpayers.

The Mercy Health Select ACO provides high-quality care while reducing costs for its 73,457 beneficiaries in Ohio and Kentucky through a collaboration of hospitals and providers.

Mercy Health Select was accepted to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), a multifaceted program sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2011 and has remained in the program since, moving to a downside risk track in 2016.

ACO and MSSP models are among strategies CMS employs to lower Medicare spending and keep the Medicare program sustainable for the long term.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reward ACOs for improving quality of care and reducing costs. Success depends on hospitals, physicians and other clinicians encouraging Medicare patients to maintain their health through better habits, including taking medication as prescribed, in order to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations.

Mercy Health Select’s other notable achievements from CMS’s 2019 report include:

  • A quality rating of 92.2 percent
  • Shared savings of $8.4 million
  • A savings rate of 1.43 percent

“For several years, Mercy Health Select has invested resources to improve the quality of care for patients and reduce costs through several actions, including care coordination, preventive health campaigns, closing health care gaps, providing timely access to physicians, and reducing duplication of services. We are committed to pushing our quality even higher while further lowering costs using innovation and compassion to meet the changing needs of our patients and the communities we serve,” says James Anthony, MD, Mercy Health Select Board Chair.

Made up of 17 hospitals and over 3,000 physicians and providers, the Mercy Health Select, LLC ACO is designed to improve community health, elevate the patient experience through coordinated care and lower health care costs. For more information, visit https://www.mercy.com/about-us/quality/accountable-care-organization

Mercy Health is part of Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. The ministry’s quality, compassionate care is provided by more than 60,000 associates serving communities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as throughout Ireland. Mercy Health is the largest health system in Ohio and among the top five employers in the state, with more than 33,500 associates serving communities throughout Ohio and Kentucky. The system includes assets of $6.8 billion and nearly 500 care facilities including 23 hospitals and 26 post-acute care facilities including senior living communities, hospice programs and home health agencies. Its clinically integrated network of more than 3,000 health care providers coordinates more effective and efficient care for more than 350,000 patients, saving money for taxpayers through the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Consistent with its commitment to serve each patient with dignity, Bon Secours Mercy Health provides nearly $2 million per day in community benefit. The mission of Bon Secours Mercy Health is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of its communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. For more information, visit https://bsmhealth.org/.