UNC Health program rated best in nation
Date Published:A Triangle accountable care organization (ACO) ranks at the top of clinical performance in the nation in its category, according to the most recent report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
UNC Senior Alliance, part of UNC Health Care, received a clinical-quality score of 98.64 percent, the highest score among a group of 34 Pay-for-Performance ACOs.
The so called “Next Generation” ACO model first launched in 2016 to experiment with value-based care model tools and incentives to lower expenditures compared to beneficiaries in traditional, fee-for-service models. UNC Senior Alliance is a physician led organization delivering treatment across the entire state. According to the UNC Health, it works with over 3,000 physicians, including physicians not affiliated with UNC. The ACO focuses on population health management.
It first joined the Next Generation model in 2017.
“These results speak to our decade long commitment to clinical quality, our infrastructure for quality improvement, our network of high-value providers, and the collaborative environment we have built around clinical quality,” said Mark Gwynne, the ACO’s president and executive medical director. “We will continue to provide the right resources, for the right patients, in the right settings, and to provide our practices with the population management support needed to improve the quality of care our patients need and to make healthcare more affordable for our patients.”
WakeMed and Duke also have ACOs but operate in a different CMS model. UNC Senior Alliance is one of four academic health systems that participate in the model.
Also in North Carolina, CHESS Health Solutions operates in High Point, and Triad HealthCare Network operates in Greensboro. According to the data provided by CMS, CHESS scored a 97.19, just behind UNC, and Triad reported a score of 94.89.