Brown & Toland leaves Pioneer ACO, declines to join Next Generation

Brown & Toland, a physician network located in the greater San Francisco area, has withdrawn from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program and has not joined the newest model of Next Generation.

Brown & Toland participated in Pioneer from it's inception in 2012, and said in those three years, it generated more than $17 million in savings for the Medicare program.

Its greatest success came during the first year, but saw declining savings in years two and three as the program changed, said a company spokesman. Despite having received back close to $8 million, the company's contracting team looked at the "upcoming changes to the program's methodology" in 2016 and decided it would be difficult to generate savings in the future. 

[Also: Dartmouth-Hitchcock defers joining Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Next Generation]

"Our efforts at providing coordinated care to these Medicare beneficiaries has produced savings for the Medicare program, and has improved the care and quality of life of the patients," said Brown & Toland CEO Richard Fish. "We are proud of our work in the Pioneer program and we will continue to participate in other HMO and PPO accountable care projects, to bring savings to the system and to improve our patients' health."

Brown & Toland's Pioneer ACO services approximately 18,800 Medicare beneficiaries. Fish  said the health system would look at other shared savings options this year, including the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Next Generation, and would also be focusing its efforts on growing its Medicare Advantage patient base.

Brown & Toland participates in ACO programs with Blue Shield of California, Aetna and Cigna.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn