Skilled nursing facility readmissions should be an ACO quality measure, government proposes

Accountable care organizations contracting with Medicare might double in January, according to the head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.

A third round of contracts is the impetus for the expected increase, CMI’s Richard Gilfillan said while making his prediction Tuesday. It will be fueled by organizations that provide team-based care that meets specific quality and savings targets set in a shared-savings model.

“There’s a lot going on,” Gilfillan said at a conference in Washington sponsored by the National Business Coalition on Health.

Currently, 153 ACOs contract with Medicare. When quality marks are achieved, any savings will be shared by involved providers, officials note. A bank of about $10 billion is available to The Innovation Center through fiscal 2019 because of funding under the healthcare law.