Newton, MA (October 17, 2017) – Atrius Health announced today that its Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) has achieved over a 95 percent quality score from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and saved CMS $10.4 million. Atrius Health’s practices, including Medicare beneficiaries who received most of their primary care at Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical Group, or Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, achieved the highest overall quality scores among Pioneer ACOs while also achieving savings for Medicare according to 2016 results released by CMS. These results demonstrate the organization’s continued success in achieving the Triple Aim of improving health outcomes and patient experience as well as reducing the total cost of care.

CMS chose 33 quality measures to represent patient/caregiver experience, care coordination, and patient safety, preventive health, and risk for patients with diabetes, hypertension, ischemic vascular disease, and heart failure and/or coronary artery disease. Atrius Health scored above the mean on 25 of the 33 measures. Based on CMS analysis, Atrius Health was particularly proud of its performance in preventive care as the organization was above the 90th percentile benchmark in pneumonia vaccination and breast cancer screening, screening for clinical depression and appropriate follow-up, tobacco use screening and cessation interventions. In addition, Atrius Health’s colorectal cancer screening performance was more than 10 points above the mean for Medicare Pioneer ACOs.

Atrius Health has been providing superlative care for decades—and this is strongly evident in their Medicare patients’ self-reported assessments of the overall patient-caregiver experience. Atrius Health rated above the 90th percentile benchmark on how well providers communicate and patients’ ratings of provider.

“As an organization built on longstanding relationships with our patients, the strong connections we develop with the people and communities we serve guide everything we do,” said Steven Strongwater, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atrius Health. “We are proud of our work to provide an exceptional and cost-effective care experience thanks to the compassion, communication and empathy of our clinicians. Most of all, we are grateful for the wonderful feedback from our patients who trust us to provide the high-quality care they deserve.”

“By knowing our patients well, we are able to provide the right coordinated care that keeps them healthy in the comfort of their homes,” said Richard Lopez, MD, Senior Vice President of Population Health at Atrius Health. “As we continuously strive to innovate care delivery to improve quality, access and convenience, we are delighted to see these efforts reflected in a quality score of over 95 percent. We are proud to help our patients lead happier, healthier lives and look forward to continuing this work.”

Atrius Health, selected as one of 32 original Pioneer ACOs, showed steady improvement in savings to Medicare in each of its five years participating in the Pioneer ACO Model. For the over 25,000 Medicare beneficiaries served by Atrius Health clinicians participating in the Pioneer ACO Model in 2016, Atrius Health saved Medicare $10.4 million compared to its target, returning $6.8 million in savings to the organization. Atrius Health’s cost of care is the lowest among Massachusetts Pioneer ACOs. The organization's strong historical performance is due in large part to decreasing unnecessary hospital admissions and helping people recover safely at home. Atrius Health applies its savings to investments in care coordination, training, data analytics, information technology, and other resources serving its Medicare beneficiaries and other patients.

"Having been one of the remaining Pioneer ACOs throughout the entire program and now as a Next Generation ACO, we are proud to have demonstrated the original intent of this initiative over five years – to achieve high quality with expense reduction through thoughtful programs designed to provide better care for seniors,” added Dr. Strongwater. “I am thrilled to once again congratulate the many clinicians and staff across our organization whose dedication to patients and collaboration made these accomplishments possible."