DALLAS, Texas – Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance, Baylor Scott & White Health's accountable care organization (ACO), generated $39.3 million in savings for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in 2018, according to results released this week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The MSSP is an alternative payment model in which eligible healthcare providers, hospitals, and suppliers are rewarded for achieving better health for individuals, improving population health, and lowering healthcare costs.
Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance achieved the highest dollar savings of all MSSP participants in Texas and earned $18.7 million in 2018 shared savings. These savings rank the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance No. 7 among 548 U.S. MSSP participants and as the only ACO in Texas among the top 10 in the country. ACOs collectively saved Medicare $1.7 billion in 2018, and $739 million after accounting for shared savings bonuses and collecting shared loss payments.
Since 2013, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance has refined its integrated care model encompassing comprehensive care management, data analytics, physician engagement, and quality and utilizes key performance indicators to drive improvement. Within the MSSP population, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance saw several notable improvements in performance from 2017 to 2018:
- Based on the most recent data, post-acute care utilization per 1,000 beneficiaries decreased: 6.9% for skilled nursing facilities; 0.4% for inpatient rehabilitation; and 25.1% for long-term acute care hospitalization.
- Hospital readmissions decreased from 12.55% to 12.36%.
- Avoidable hospital admissions per 1,000 beneficiaries decreased 9.2%.
- Quality measure performance improved from 92.1% to 97.2%. The national average was less than 93%.
- Medicare annual wellness visits increased from 59.8% to 65.7%.
“At Baylor Scott & White, we strive to be the trusted leader in value-based care, and our 2018 results demonstrate the results of our organization's effort," said Clifford Fullerton, MD, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance president. “These results show not only the highest (dollar) savings in Texas but also one of the highest quality scores. This is a testament to the innovation, focus, and hard work of our teams including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses and many other members that care for our patients. It makes us very proud to make healthcare better and more affordable for our communities."
“This MSSP success demonstrates Baylor Scott & White's commitment to making healthcare better and more affordable by coordinating between providers and redesigning the way we provide care to one of our most vulnerable populations," said Jennifer Reed, system vice president of comprehensive care management at Baylor Scott & White, said. “We have chosen since 2018 to increase our commitment to Medicare patients by moving into a more challenging version of this program that could help make Medicare more sustainable for the communities we serve for years to come."
The Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance MSSP includes approximately 125,000 Medicare beneficiaries, making it one of the largest program participants in the nation. Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance was able to achieve the quality improvement and savings despite caring for a larger number of beneficiaries in 2018 compared with 2017. MSSP nationally cares for 10.1 million beneficiaries.
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About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com