Of the 114 accountable care organizations that joined the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2012, just 54 saved money in their first 12 months, and only 29 of those generated enough savings to share in them with Medicare.
Overall, the program's 2012 ACOs generated a total of $128 million in net savings for the Medicare Trust Fund. The savings are "within the range originally projected for the program's first year," according to CMS, even though more than half of the participants did not meet their savings benchmarks.
CMS characterized the interim results as a "strong start this early in the program," and final performance results from the first year of the program will be released later in 2014, according to the news release.
Additionally, more information released by CMS shows the 23 remaining Pioneer ACOs generated gross savings of $147 million in their first year while delivering high-quality care. Nine of the Pioneers had "significantly lower spending growth relative to Medicare fee for service while exceeding quality reporting requirements," the news release states.
All together, the Shared Savings and Pioneer ACO programs saved Medicare more than $380 million in their first year, according to the release.
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