Final Evaluation of the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model (NextGen ACO)

NORC has just released the 6^th and final evaluation of the Next Gen ACO Model. ARC was a partner organization in the development of this evaluation.

This model was an impressive undertaking in its scope and the level of risk participants took. Results were promising and educational:

Gross spending declined $1.7 billion over the model’s six-year performance period, with the largest reductions in period 6.
Net spending (including shared savings paid to NGACOs) declined in year 6, but not in previous years, with shared savings payments exceeding reductions in gross spending. This finding has important implications to how benchmarks and shared savings are calculated.
Measures of quality care including readmissions and hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions did not show cumulative degradation or improvement over the model period.
Results regarding equity and reduced disparities were mixed. Almost three-quarters of NGACOs stated that they had implemented initiatives to address social needs. However, gaps in spending and outcomes by race varied by measure and year, and may not be generalizable given the model disproportion serving non-Hispanic white beneficiaries.

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