Even in normal times, predicting the future is a fraught enterprise. Right now, as the course of the pandemic continues to influence many aspects of life, it’s nearly impossible. There are, however, several things we know about the MaineHealth ACO and the evolution of value-based care that give us a sense of our general trajectory.
First, we understand that our ACO is well positioned for success in the future. It has a solid record of success, consistently earning shared savings over the last three years. The highly competent and experienced leadership team – President Jen Moore, CMO Rob Chamberlin, MD, and COO Shannon Banks – have built a robust organizational infrastructure finely tuned to support success in value-based care. That includes development of value-based performance reports presented to all local health system leadership teams, a sophisticated contracting team and deep collaboration with the MaineHealth system in clinical documentation improvement, quality and population health.
Second, we know that the pandemic’s impacts on our quality and utilization performance during the 2021 calendar year may negatively affect our contract settlements and financial performance in 2022. The extent of that impact won’t be known until our performance is compared to other ACO’s during the same time period. We should be prepared, however, for more modest revenue from shared savings.
Over the long term, we have reason to be optimistic. The industry’s movement towards more two-sided risk contracts allows well prepared ACOs, like ours, to enjoy increased rates of shared savings when we meet cost and quality benchmarks in the future. That means more capacity to invest in population health and thereby reduce utilization and improve patient outcomes. It’s an exciting prospect, clearly linking the ACO’s accomplishments to MaineHealth’s vision of working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.
Mark Fourre, MD
President, Coastal Healthcare Alliance
Chair, MaineHealth ACO Board of Directors
Even in normal times, predicting the future is a fraught enterprise. Right now, as the course of the pandemic continues to influence many aspects of life, it’s nearly impossible. There are, however, several things we know about the MaineHealth ACO and the evolution of value-based care that give us a sense of our general trajectory.
First, we understand that our ACO is well positioned for success in the future. It has a solid record of success, consistently earning shared savings over the last three years. The highly competent and experienced leadership team – President Jen Moore, CMO Rob Chamberlin, MD, and COO Shannon Banks – have built a robust organizational infrastructure finely tuned to support success in value-based care. That includes development of value-based performance reports presented to all local health system leadership teams, a sophisticated contracting team and deep collaboration with the MaineHealth system in clinical documentation improvement, quality and population health.
Second, we know that the pandemic’s impacts on our quality and utilization performance during the 2021 calendar year may negatively affect our contract settlements and financial performance in 2022. The extent of that impact won’t be known until our performance is compared to other ACO’s during the same time period. We should be prepared, however, for more modest revenue from shared savings.
working together so our communities are the healthiest in America
Mark Fourre, MD
President, Coastal Healthcare Alliance
Chair, MaineHealth ACO Board of Directors