15 more ACOs choose advance payment model

Fifteen more accountable care organizations (ACOs) have decided to get their payments for treating Medicare patients in advance by taking part in the advance payments ACO model, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which oversees the public ACO program.

The latest advance payment participants join the five who announced in April that they were joining the program, bringing the number of advance payment participants to 20.

The advance payment model is designed primarily for ACOs who may have difficulty accessing capital, primarily those that are physician-based or that serve rural areas. “Through the advance payment ACO model, selected participants will receive upfront and monthly payments, which they can use to make important investments in their care coordination infrastructure,” according to CMS.

ACOs taking part in the advance payments model receive three types of payments:

• an upfront fixed payment,

• an upfront variable payment based on the number of its historically assigned Medicare beneficiaries, and

• a monthly variable payment based on the number of its historically assigned Medicare beneficiaries.

The most recent advance payment model participants

• Accountable Care Partners ACO LLC, Jacksonville, Florida;

• Coastal Medical Inc., Providence, Rhode Island;

• Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation LLC, Nashville, Tennessee;

• Golden Life Healthcare LLC, Sacramento, California;

• Harbor Medical Associates PC, South Weymouth, Massachusetts;

• Maryland Accountable Care Organization, Eastern Shore LLC in National Harbor, Maryland;

• Maryland Accountable Care Organization of Western Maryland, National Harbor, Maryland;

• Medical Mall Services of Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi;

• MPS ACO Physicians LLC, Middletown, Connecticut;

• Physicians ACO LLC, Houston, Texas;

• PriMed LLC, Shelton, Connecticut;

• Quality Independent Physicians LLC, Louisville, Kentucky;

• Reliance Healthcare Management Solutions, Tampa, Florida;

• St. Thomas Medical Group PLLC, Nashville, Tennessee; and

• Texoma ACO LLC, Wichita Falls, Texas.

CMS is accepting applications for the next round of advance payment model ACOs, which will begin January 1. For information about how to apply, visit the advance payment application page.

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