ACO operator Collaborative Health Systems says partners saved millions

For Collaborative Health Systems, Tuesday's news was a big win for the manager of dozens of accountable care organizations. Nine ACOs that partner with CHS generated $27 million in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, according to the data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

CHS partners with primary care physicians in 23 shared savings ACOs in 2014, the most of any organization in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, according to the company.

The number of ACOs that qualified for shared savings tripled compared to last year, according to Richard Barasch, chairman and CEO of CHS's parent company Universal American.

[Also: See which shared savings ACOs earned payments in 2014 (Data)]

Of 23 ACOs, nine gained shared savings, another eight saved money but not above the minimum savings rate, he said.

With one exception, the primary care physicians are not hospital based, he said.

"Across the board, every one of our doctors improved quality scores," he said.

Collaborative Health Systems acts as a program manager for primary care physicians moving towards value-based payment delivery, he said. "We put infrastructure in for them, work with them closely to set up the governance and then partner with them in the results," he said.

The money is saved through improving care coordination, making their practices more efficient and monitoring costs.

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"Quality scores improved for all ACOs, which indicates improved healthcare management particularly for our chronically ill beneficiaries. For example, hospitalizations in 2014 decreased on average by 11 percent for beneficiaries with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and by 8 percent for beneficiaries with congestive heart failure," he said. "For beneficiaries with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the quality score measuring hemoglobin levels -- an indication that blood sugar levels are under control -- improved 10 percent."

Barasch said the company remains committed to the shared savings program.

"The 2014 results reflect the impressive efforts of our physician partners as they move to a system in which they will be appropriately rewarded for positively impacting the quality and cost of healthcare for their patients," Barasch said.

Last year CMS reported that the CHS's ACOs generated $57 million in total program savings.

Twitter: @SusanMorseHFN