CMS announced June 25 two modifications to the Accountable Care Organization Investment Model to help providers in rural areas and small group providers participate in ACOs. Here are five things to know about the modifications.
1. The first change will allow ACOs starting in the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2015 to apply in the upcoming application round for the ACO Investment Model.
2. The second change will remove rural ACO eligibility criteria. Rural MSSP ACOs that started in 2015 or start in 2016 are no longer required to have 10,000 or fewer beneficiaries.
3. The ACO Investment Model is meant to support organizations that need additional capital to invest in infrastructure and redesign care processes for population health management. Six ACOs that entered the MSSP in 2012 and 2013 are already participating in the program.
4. CMS expects the ACO Investment Model to invest $114 million upfront across 75 ACOs nationwide.
5. Applications for the ACO Investment Model for MSSP ACOs that started in 2014 and 2015, or will start in 2016, opened July 1 and close July 31.
More articles on accountable care:
Saint Francis Healthcare to launch Delaware ACO
Trenton Health Team certified as a Medicaid ACO
Applications open for Medicare shared savings model for rural ACOs