Iowa Health affiliates to test accountable care model

Two Iowa Health System affiliates in Fort Dodge have been selected to participate in a nationwide pilot of a new incentive-based payment system for Medicare patients. The affiliates, Trimark Physicians Group and Trinity Regional Medical Center, will participate in one of 32 Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that will be formed across the country, and the only one in Iowa.  As part of that initiative, the organizations will be eligible to receive a share of the savings generated by the program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provided they meet certain quality standards and demonstrate they have improved the care of their patient populations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates the Pioneer ACO initiative will save up to $1.1 billion in health-care expenditures in the next five years by better coordinating care. To read a related Business Record article, click here.

Two Iowa Health System affiliates in Fort Dodge have been selected to participate in a nationwide pilot of a new incentive-based payment system for Medicare patients.

The affiliates, Trimark Physicians Group and Trinity Regional Medical Center, will participate in one of 32 Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that will be formed across the country, and the only one in Iowa.  

As part of that initiative, the organizations will be eligible to receive a share of the savings generated by the program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, provided they meet certain quality standards and demonstrate they have improved the care of their patient populations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates the Pioneer ACO initiative will save up to $1.1 billion in health-care expenditures in the next five years by better coordinating care.