Becker’s Hospital Review is pleased to release its ACOs to know list in 2023. Many of the featured ACOs are early adopters of the Medicare Shared Savings Program and deliver quality care at lower costs.
ACOs are physician- and health system-led groups that focus on finding savings in healthcare delivery. Many work within Medicare programs but also serve patients with private insurance.
The list features many organizations that save patients and health systems millions of dollars per year. They are committed to meeting and surpassing ACO standards. We accepted nominations for this list. Click here to find the 2023 nomination forms.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals or healthcare providers, and organizations cannot pay for inclusion on this list. Entries are presented in alphabetical order.
Contact Brendan Talian at btalian@beckershealthcare.com with questions or comments on this list.
Advocate Physician Partners Accountable Care (Rolling Meadows, Ill.). A fully transparent and patient-centered program, Advocate Physician Partners Accountable Care has saved millions of dollars for patients over the years. During the 2021 reporting period, Advocate recorded a $27.8 million payout from the Medicare Shared Savings Program. It features multiple committees to ensure it is conforming with and surpassing ACO standards.
Atlantic Accountable Care Organization (Morristown, N.J.). As one of the first ACOs established from the inception of the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Atlantic ACO has consistently saved Medicare money each year. In the most recently recorded year, it saved nearly $10 million by achieving its saving targets in ACO contracts. Going forward, AHS ACO is determined to expand programs for behavioral health.
Banner Health Network (Phoenix). Beneficiaries in the Medicare Pioneer ACO served by Banner Health Network receive quality care and preventive medicine that results in less cost to Medicare. Led by Chuck Lehn, it has saved millions of dollars since its inception. Recently, Banner Health Network developed an incentive plan for ophthalmology practices that encouraged the practices to use equally effective but lower-cost vascular endothelial growth factor-modulating medications. The ACO reported a $25.6 million performance payment during the 2021 reporting period for the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance (Dallas). Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance is an ACO affiliated with Baylor Scott & White Health. It is committed to delivering its patients the highest quality, cost-effective care possible. Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance has over 6,000 physicians, 50 hospitals and 95+ post-acute care facilities dedicated to improving quality, patient experience and reducing costs. For the 2021 reporting year, the ACO earned $61 million, a $14 million increase in performance payment year over year.
Boston Accountable Care Organization (Boston). Boston Accountable Care Organization is a 180,000-plus member organization that strives to improve the healthcare of the populations it serves. The organization recently improved its behavioral health and substance use disorder care and enhanced data, reporting and health information technology to enable better performance improvement. It is forming a Health Equity Committee to improve its services for all which includes additional training and population needs assessments.
Community Care of Brooklyn IPA, Inc. (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Community Care of Brooklyn IPA is in the top 25 percent of New York ACOs on the basis of savings per beneficiary. It achieved a quality score of 98.3 percent and saved Medicare nearly $12M with a network that serves a disproportionate number of dual-eligible individuals. CCB IPA's network serves 10,500 Medicare fee for service beneficiaries or 28 percent of all Brooklyn-based Medicare beneficiaries attributed to ACOs.
HMH ACO (Edison, N.J.) HMH ACO is Hackensack Meridian Health’s newly combined ACO, consolidating the HackensackAlliance ACO, JFK Health ACO and Meridian Health ACO. Under the leadership of William Oser, M.D. as ACO executive, this new ACO has more than 1,300 providers serving nearly 60,000 beneficiaries.
JFK Health ACO (Edison, N.J.). JFK Health ACO is one of Hackensack Meridian Health's three ACOs, and under the leadership of William Oser as ACO executive. JFK Health ACO participates in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and recorded savings of $2.4 million in the 2020 performance year.
Keystone ACO (Danville, Pa.). Keystone ACO brings doctors, hospitals and healthcare providers together as part of one strong team. It has saved millions of dollars and consistently provides services at a below-ACO average cost. Keystone employs more than 4,500 physicians and earned $26.5 million for the Medicare Shared Savings Program 2021 reporting year.
Mayo Clinic Community Accountable Care Organization, LLC (Rochester, Minn.). Even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mayo Clinic ACO provided great access to its members. It increased the use of remote care options and used an internally developed registry to review the charts of patients and proactively schedule appropriate visits. In addition to ongoing efforts, Mayo Clinic ACO initiated a program to expand the delivery of Medicare Annual Wellness Visits to its patients at ACO participant locations.
Mercy Health Select (Cincinnati). Mercy Health Select is the ACO of Mercy Health that works to save patients money with efficient care. It earned a $25.3 million payment through the Medicare Shared Savings Program for the 2021 reporting year. For Mercy Health Select, connecting partners and patients for effective and efficient care is a top priority.
Optimus Healthcare Partners, LLC (Summit, N.J.). Optimus Healthcare was one of the first ACOs established from the inception of the Medicare Shared Savings Program and is led by Scott Maron, MD, president and CEO. It has saved more than $10 million by achieving high quality and cost savings targets in ACO contracts. Optimus also developed a cloud-based, analytic reporting platform that allowed for the aggregation of patient data sources, data master capabilities and the ability to better care for the patients it serves.
Orlando Health Collaborative (Orlando, Fla.) Orlando Health Network's ACO recently achieved savings of nearly $20 million in healthcare costs through meeting quality and cost goals. It also earned high marks across four major quality domains, with an overall score of 96.87 percent. The network expanded its value-based care partnerships with commercial payers including Aetna, Cigna, Florida Blue, and UnitedHealthcare, and boasts more than 5,700 multispecialty providers, a robust and expanding ambulatory footprint, and 16 wholly-owned hospitals and emergency departments.
Palm Beach Accountable Care Organization (Palm Springs, Fla.). PBACO is an ACO that strives to improve patient experience, population health and decrease per capita healthcare costs. The organization features more than 275 PCPs and 175 specialist physician members. It also looks after 79,000 Medicare beneficiaries. PBACO was the top earner for the Medicare Shared Savings Program for the last two years, reporting $61.9 million in earned savings in 2021.
Physician Partners of Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh). Physician Partners is led by Bill Johnjulio, MD, chief medical director of Physician Partners of Western PA and chief population health officer of Allegheny Health Network. Physician Partners recently agreed to two new value-based contracts with Aetna and Gateway Health / Highmark Wholecare which impacts about 80,000 covered lives. Over the past few years, the group has driven nearly $18 million in shared savings among its 3,500 partners.
Privia Quality Network (Arlington, Va.). Privia Quality Network is an ACO that is focused on reducing inefficiencies in the healthcare delivery system with leading physicians. It has generated more than $740 million in savings for its total 846,000 attributed lives. Privia works with providers to improve the efficiency and quality of care for their patient populations. For the 2021 reporting year, Privia collected $41.6 million in performance payments as part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Rainier Health Network, Franciscan Northwest Physicians Health Network (Tacoma, Wash.). Rainier Health Network is an ACO with the goal of delivering high-quality healthcare and driving down costs with an innovative approach to care. The network is transforming healthcare delivery with physician-led and patient-centered care. It is part of a large nonprofit health system and operates in 21 states with more than 1,000 care sites and serves 20 million patients annually in the U.S.
Signify Health Collaborative ACO (Dallas, Texas). Signify Health Collaborative connects hospitals and physicians to deliver more efficient care by leveraging data-driven insights and processes. The ACO, which is part of Signify Health, features more than 26,000 clinicians and over 500,000 attributed Medicare lives. Through its efforts, the ACO has delivered $478 million in total savings to medicare.
Steward National Care Network (Westwood, Mass.). The Steward National Care Network, a subsidiary of Steward Health Care, serves nine states and works to provide the most efficient and effective care to patients. The network also provides a full range of primary care physicians and specialists. The Steward Promise ACO is dedicated to connecting healthcare providers to give the best care for each individual. For the 2021 reporting year, Steward reported a $34.5 million performance payout as part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
The Queen’s Health System Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization (Honolulu). Queen's entered the Medicare Shared Savings Program with its ACO in 2017, placing Whitney Limm, MD, executive vice president of clinical integration and chief physician executive, at the helm. It covers nearly 16,000 Medicare beneficiaries with annual spending of more than $150 million. The ACO also realized more than $5 million in cost reductions and earned a savings bonus of more than $2 million, which was shared between the health system and its participating providers.
University Hospitals Coordinated Care Organization (Cleveland). Led by Mark Schario, University Hospital Coordinated Care Organization’s ACO reduced Medicare expenditures by 21 percent and improved quality to 100 percent, up from 73 percent over two years. It implemented a framework to eliminate defects and employed a management system that includes: declaring goals, roles, and resources; creating enabling infrastructure; creating peer learning communities; and reporting transparently and creating shared accountability systems.
USMM Accountable Care Partners (Troy, Mich.). USMM Accountable Care Partners provides a wide array of services for over 30,000 patients across 11 states. It is an award-winning network of home-based primary care providers. Clinicians within the ACO work to provide high-quality, compassionate and cost-effective care to the elderly population of the United States. USMM earned a $27.9 million payment as part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program for the 2021 reporting period.