Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas Generates Nearly $64 Million in Shared Savings over Four Years Participating In Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model

HOUSTON (Oct. 22, 2021) – Collaborative Health Systems (CHS) announced today the Accountable Care Coalition (ACC) of Southeast Texas, Inc. generated nearly $64 million in shared savings under the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model for performance years 2017 through 2020, according to performance year 2020 figures released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

  In performance year 2020, the ACC of Southeast Texas achieved the following outcomes:

• Served more than 18,000 Medicare beneficiaries across southeast Texas;
• Achieved an overall savings rate of 12.2%, the third highest of all Next Generation ACOs; and,
• Generated $30 million in shared savings – a 70% increase from performance year 2019.

The ACC of Southeast Texas also partnered with CHS to improve care and quality outcomes through timely and preventive care. Leveraging innovative technology to track population health trends, CHS supported the ACC of Southeast Texas to meet quality standards annually, and, most recently, helped them achieve a 94.6% overall quality score. This higher quality level of care has helped keep patients out of the hospital and ER resulting in a 20% decrease in inpatient discharges per 1,000 and a 29% decrease in ER visits per 1,000 since 2012.  

“We are proud to report the ACC of Southeast Texas has generated shared savings for both our providers and the Medicare program for the fourth year in a row,” said Dr. Raul Rivera, Medical Director, ACC of Southeast Texas. “We remain committed to providing high-quality, cost-effective care and services to our patients across the state.”  

“The ACC of Southeast Texas is demonstrating how value-based care can help providers deliver better health outcomes while lowering the cost of care,” said Anthony Valdés, President of Collaborative Health Systems. “We look forward to our continued partnership with providers across Texas as they explore new opportunities to manage costs and deliver higher quality care to Medicare beneficiaries.”  

The Next Generation ACO Model was designed under the CMS Innovation Center to test whether strong financial incentives for ACOs can improve health outcomes and reduce expenditures for Medicare FeeFor-Service (FFS) beneficiaries. Under the Model, groups of doctors and other healthcare providers come together voluntarily to provide coordinated, high-quality care at lower costs to their Medicare FFS beneficiaries. Provider groups in this Model assume higher levels of financial risk and reward than are available under the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The Model engages beneficiaries in their care through benefit enhancements designed to improve the patient experience and rewards seeking appropriate care from providers and suppliers participating in ACOs.  

Performance year 2021 represents that last year of the Next Generation ACO Model. The CMS Innovation Center has rolled out a new value-based care initiative, Direct Contracting, with April 2021 and January 2022 start dates for initial adopters. Collaborative Health Systems will be managing four Direct Contracting Entities with a presence across 24 states.