The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced 27 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for its Shared Savings Program, a part of the Affordable Care Act aimed at helping physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers work together in an effort to improve care for people with Medicare is off to a strong start.  

The 27 ACOs have entered into agreements with CMS in an effort to take responsibility for the quality of care furnished to people with Medicare in return for the opportunity to share in savings realized through improved care. They will serve an estimated 375,000 beneficiaries in 18 states, which brings the total number of organizations participating Medicare shared savings initiatives on April 1 to 65, including the 32 Pioneer Model ACOs that were announced last December, and six Physician Group Practice Transition Demonstration organizations that started in January 2011.

In all, as of April 1, more than 1.1 million beneficiaries are receiving care from providers participating in Medicare shared savings initiatives. “We are encouraged by this strong start and confident that by the end of this year, we will have a robust program in place, benefitting millions of seniors and people with disabilities across the country,” CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a statement.

The Shared Savings Program was created by the Affordable Care Act in an effort to create more coordinated care. The selected ACOs include more than 10,000 physicians, 10 hospitals, and 13 smaller physician-driven organizations in both urban and rural areas. Their models for coordinating care and improving quality vary in response to the needs of the beneficiaries in the areas they are serving. CMS says it is reviewing more than 150 applications from ACOs seeking to enter the program in July.

CMS also announced today that five ACOs are participating in the Advance Payment ACO Model beginning April 1. This model will provide advance payment of expected shared savings to rural and physician-based ACOs participating in the Shared Savings Program that would benefit from additional start-up resources. CMS is reviewing more than 50 applications for Advance Payments that start in July.

Blair Childs, senior vice president of Public Affairs at Premier healthcare alliance made a statement on the selections for the Shared Savings Program. “The Premier healthcare alliance congratulates all organizations selected as participants in Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). These organizations are true leaders fostering the movement toward team-based, coordinated care,” Childs said. “As we have learned from members of the Premier Accountable Care Collaboratives, the MSSP requires advanced processes and infrastructure to assume risk for the quality and outcomes of care across the continuum. We look forward to learnings gleaned from the MSSP, and plan to share them with other members of our collaborative who are beginning this important journey to improve quality, reduce costs and enhance overall population health.”

Here’s a list of the ACO participants that started April 1, 2012

Accountable Care Organization/Collaborative Health Systems Partnerships

Accountable Care Coalition of Caldwell County, LLC Lenoir, NC

Accountable Care Coalition of Coastal GeorgiaOrmond, FL (Serving beneficiaries in GA and SC)

Accountable Care Coalition of Eastern North Carolina, LLC New Bern, NC

Accountable Care Coalition of Greater Athens Georgia Athens, GA

Accountable Care Coalition of Mount Kisco, LLC Mount Kisco, NY

Accountable Care Coalition of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, LLC Clearwater, FL (Serving beneficiaries in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area)

Accountable Care Coalition of the North Country, LLC Canton, NY

Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin, LLC Milwaukee, WI

Accountable Care Coalition of Texas, Inc. Houston, TX

 AHS ACO, LLC Morristown, NJ (Serving beneficiaries in NJ and PA)

AppleCare Medical ACO, LLC Buena Park, CA                       

Arizona Connected Care, LLC Tucson, AZ

Chinese Community Accountable Care Organization New York, NY

CIPA Western New York IPA, doing business as Catholic Medical PartnersBuffalo, NY

Coastal Carolina Quality Care, Inc. New Bern, NC

Crystal Run Healthcare ACO, LLC Middletown, NY (Serving beneficiaries in NY and PA)

Florida Physicians Trust, LLC Winter Park, FL

Hackensack Physician-Hospital Alliance ACO, LLC Hackensack, NJ (Serving beneficiaries in NJ and NY)

Jackson Purchase Medical Associates, PSC Paducah, KY

Jordan Community ACO Plymouth, MA

North Country ACO Littleton, NH (Serving beneficiaries in NH and VT)

Optimus Healthcare Partners, LLC Summit, NJ

Physicians of Cape Cod ACO Description of Organization Hyannis, MA

Premier ACO Physician Network Lakewood, CA

Primary Partners, LLC Clermont, FL

RGV ACO Health Providers, LLC Donna, TX

West Florida ACO, LLC Trinity, FL