Healthcare Partners Medical Group, which has multiple offices in the greater San Fernando Valley area, was one of six physician groups chosen by Health and Human Services to pioneer an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) initiative in California. Healthcare Partners has offices in Mission Hills, Valencia, Van Nuys and West Hills. The Pioneer ACO model initiative was designed specifically for organizations with experience offering coordinated, patient-centered care, and operating in ACO-like arrangements to test the impact of different payment arrangements in providing better care to patients, and reducing Medicare costs. The selected organizations were chosen for their significant experience offering this type of care to their patients. “This is outstanding news for physician groups in California who have been working for decades to provide high quality patient care while containing costs,” Donald Crane, president and CEO of CAPG said in a statement. “With six of the 32 organizations coming from California – the most of any state – we believe this is testament to the maturity and excellence of our capitated and coordinated care model.” According to HHS, the Pioneer ACO Model initiative will encourage primary care doctors, specialists, hospitals and other caregivers to provide better, more coordinated care for people with Medicare and could save up to $1.1 billion over five years. The initiative will test the effectiveness of several innovative payment models and how they can help experienced organizations to provide better care for beneficiaries, work in coordination with private payers, and reduce Medicare cost growth. These payment models will allow organizations that are successful in achieving better care and lower cost growth to move away from a payment system based on volume under the fee-for-service model, towards one where the ACO is paid based on the value of care it provides.
