Health Affairs published a study comparing commercial ACOs to noncommercial ACOs, revealing commercial ACOs exceed noncommercial ACOs on various measures, according to AJMC.
The study analyzed 228 commercial ACOs and 171 noncommercial ACOs.
Here are five key takeaways:
1. Researchers found commercial ACOs outperform noncommercial ACOs on quality and process efficiency measures.
2. Commercial ACOs were substantially larger and more integrated with hospitals. Forty-one percent of ACOs included one or more hospitals, compared to 19 percent of noncommercial ACOs.
3. Compared to noncommercial ACOs, commercial ACOs had lower benchmark expenditures and higher quality scores.
4. Both types of ACOs had a low uptake of quality and efficiency activities, but commercial ACOs reported using more disease-monitoring tools, patient satisfaction data and quality improvement methods.
5. Of all the ACOs analyzed, a small fraction reported having "vigorous" quality-monitoring capabilities or having financial incentives tied to quality.