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V O L . X X I N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 5 24 A pilot program launched in by Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems to improve patient care while reducing costs for Medicare patients has expanded into a statewide network that also includes patients covered by private payers and self-insured employers. "We now have more than , patients," says Carrie Arsenault, senior director of operations for EMHS's Beacon Health Accountable Care Organization, which got its start as one of Pioneer ACOs selected nationwide by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to test how different delivery of care and payment arrangements might improve patient care and reduce Medicare costs. Beacon Health's Medicare population has steadily grown in the four years the ACO has participated in CMS's Pioneer pilot program — from , patients in , to , in , to , in and , projected for this year. But the big jump in its overall numbers is driven by an agreement the ACO reached last fall with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine to manage the care of more than , Anthem members. By joining forces, the two organizations became Maine's largest commercial ACO with more than , members and a shared commitment to the "triple aim" goals of improving patients' health, enhanc- ing their experience of care and reducing overall costs. A side benefit for Beacon Health and its net- work providers, she adds, is that adding non-Medi- care patients to the ACO's caseload diversifies the demographics by bringing in younger and healthier populations whose care is often easier to manage, particularly when wellness and preventive care are emphasized. "From a delivery-of-care perspective, it's much easier if you can treat the majority of your patients the same way," she says. "We don't believe the Pioneer ACO program is the end game," says Arsenault, explaining that the lessons Beacon Health already has learned in the first three years of CMS's five-year pilot are helping EMHS and its network providers transition from a fee-for-service payment system to a value-based pay- ment system tied to quality measurements for patient care. "We are getting great first-hand experience in the new space that health care is moving into." At the same time, she says, Beacon Health's ACO network has steadily grown from its first year of being based at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, e Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle and Inland Hospital in Waterville and primary care practices, with providers. By , the network included primary care practices, providers and more than hospitals and health centers extending from Fort Kent to greater Portland. And that has very much helped its expansion into the commercial ACO arena. "It makes a lot of sense to the private payers," she says. "We bring a network to them … a group of providers that have signed up for this. ey don't have to create their own statewide network. We can give them a solution." The challenge of 'cost' A June report by Leavitt Partners, a firm based in Salt Lake City specializing in market research about the health care industry, concludes that while the jury is still out on ACOs, their "value-based care delivery model" is gaining momentum. ere are now more than ACOs in the United States, with more than half only having government contracts and a little more than having commercial contracts, Health care 'pioneer' Beacon Health ACO tackles health care's 'triple aim' challenge F O C U S Beacon Health network Patients Primary care practices S O U R C E : Beacon Health EMHS Members 1 Acadia Hospital 2 The Aroostook Medical Center 3 Blue Hill Memorial Hospital 4 CA Dean Memorial Hospital 5 Eastern Maine Medical Center 6 Inland Hospital 7 Mercy Hospital 8 Sebasticook Valley Health Beacon Health Partners 1 Bridgton Hospital 2 Central Maine Medical Center 3 Down East Community Hospital 4 Maine Coast Memorial Hospital 5 Mount Desert Island Hospital 6 Northern Maine Medical Center 7 Rumford Hospital 8 Sebasticook Family Doctors (multiple locations) 9 St. Joseph Healthcare 0 30 60 90 120 150 2015 2014 2013 2012 0 20K 40K 60K 80K 100K 2015 2014 2013 2012

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