Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Two Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) Create $99.3 Million in Medicare Savings, Reducing Health Care Spend to Taxpayers

Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) announces that its two accountable care organizations (ACOs) – Mercy Health Select ACO, and Hampton Roads Good Help ACO – created $99.3 million in total savings for its Medicare population in 2023, representing a reduced health care spend to all taxpayers.

“For years, Bon Secours Mercy Health has made investments to improve the quality of care for patients and reduce costs. This has been accomplished through several areas of focus, including care coordination, preventive health campaigns, closing health care gaps, providing timely access to physicians and reducing duplication of services,” said Jean Haynes, chief population health officer, Bon Secours Mercy Health. “We are committed to pushing our quality even higher while further lowering costs through an innovative and compassionate approach to meet the changing needs of our populations and the communities we serve.”

Mercy Health Select ACO

The Mercy Health Select (MHS) ACO provides high-quality care while reducing costs for its 86,683 beneficiaries in Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia through a collaboration of hospitals and providers. It was accepted to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in 2011 and has remained in the program since.

MHS participates in the Enhanced track of the MSSP, which is the highest level of downside risk, but also shares the greatest portion of savings if successful. In 2023, MHS successfully achieved expenses below the benchmark and easily exceeded the .5% minimum savings rate, with an actual savings of 7.5%, resulting in $81.2 million in savings to CMS and $59.7 million in earned shared savings. These results mark MHS’ most successful year since beginning participation in the MSSP.

Mercy Health Select was also named one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s Top ACOs to Know 2024.

Hampton Roads Good Help ACO

In 2023, the Hampton Roads Good Help ACO, which serves 41,559 beneficiaries, participated in level E of the MSSP, which is a two-sided risk track, and is provided a per-member, per-year financial benchmark in order to share in any savings.

The Hampton Roads Good Help ACO successfully achieved expenses below the benchmark and exceeded the .5% minimum savings rate, with an actual savings rate of 3.8%, resulting in $18.1 million in savings to CMS, and earned shared savings of $8.8 million.

ACO and MSSP models are among strategies CMS employs to lower Medicare spending and keep the Medicare program sustainable for the long term.

CMS rewards ACOs for improving quality of care and reducing costs. Success depends on hospitals, physicians and other clinicians encouraging Medicare patients to maintain their health through better habits, including taking medication as prescribed, in order to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations.

BSMH’s ACOs are designed to improve community health, elevate the patient experience through coordinated care and lower health care costs.