Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions
Benefits of Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs lacking
Key clinical point: The Medicare Shared Savings Program may not be saving money or improving quality.
Major finding: Using a different statistical model reveals spending growth of $5 per beneficiary per quarter in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Study details: Researchers used an instrumental variable model to show the growth, and compared it with an adjusted longitudinal model, which showed cost and quality improvements associated with the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Disclosures: Primary sources of funding for the research included the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Institute on Aging. No relevant disclosures were made by the authors.
Markovitz A et al. Ann Intern Med. 2019 June 18. doi: 10.7326/M18-2539.