Arizona Care Network Awarded Next Generation ACO Participation Status By The Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services

PHOENIX, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Arizona Care Network (ACN) has been named by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as one of 28 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that will participate in the Next Generation ACO Model beginning January 1, 2017.

More than 5,000 primary care and specialist clinicians, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospice organizations, will serve nearly 30,000 Medicare beneficiaries throughout the Valley in Arizona Care Network's Next Generation ACO.

"We are honored to be selected to participate in the Next Generation ACO Model to provide accessible, best-in-class care to a growing population of Medicare beneficiaries in partnership with CMS," said Dr. David Hanekom, ACN's chief executive officer.

ACOs bring doctors and carefully selected health care organizations together to place patients at the center of the healthcare delivery system. Next Generation ACOs build on the successful Medicare Shared Savings Program and Pioneer ACO Models operating throughout the United States, helping to ensure that providers work together to attain the highest quality of care standards for their patients, and offer Medicare beneficiaries services not available under the traditional Medicare Program.

"Clinicians who participate in ACN will benefit from an incentive program that rewards them for achieving clinical outcomes, coordinating patient care within the network, improving patient satisfaction and using health care services appropriately," said Todd Ricotta, ACN's executive director of Operations. "The ability to receive care virtually from a provider using telehealth technology, and the opportunity for patients to receive care in a skilled nursing facility without having to receive care in a hospital facility first will improve the care experience for Medicare beneficiaries treated by Next Generation ACO providers such as ACN." 

Medicare beneficiaries in the care of ACN providers who are participating in the Next Generation ACO Model can realize significant advantages under the model as well. Beneficiaries will have options to choose clinicians who are collaborating to improve care provided to patients, and will be eligible for certain financial rewards for receiving their Medicare Annual Wellness Visit from their ACN primary care clinician.

ACN was established in 2012 to change the landscape of healthcare in Arizona. The organization's Medicare Shared Savings Program, which started in 2013, has served as the backdrop for rapid growth in its provider network which includes robust primary care, specialty, outpatient and hospital-based services.

Today, in partnership with Phoenix Children's Care Network, ACN has grown to more than 5,000 clinicians who care for adult and pediatric patients in Maricopa and Pinal counties through contracts with commercial health plans, government payors at the federal and state level, and self-funded employers.

In 2015, ACN earned a 96.2 percent score for quality patient care under its Medicare Shared Savings Program – a 17 percent increase from the previous year and one of the highest performance scores among Arizona ACOs.

"We are building upon these successes by investing in new programs and technologies that will continue to enhance care and lower costs for patients who receive care from clinicians who are participating in ACN," Hanekom said.

For more information or to find a provider participating in ACN, visit www.arizonacarenetwork.org or call (602) 406-7226.

About Arizona Care Network
Arizona Care Network is a physician-led and governed accountable care organization, with more than 5,000 clinicians providing a broad range of clinical and care coordination services adult and pediatric patients in Maricopa and Pinal counties. ACN is a partnership between Dignity Health and Abrazo Community Health Network, and also includes Phoenix Children's Hospital, one of the largest children's hospitals in the nation, and Maricopa Medical Center, part of Maricopa Integrated Health System. The network is comprised of primary care and specialty physicians, along with skilled nursing and home health agencies, imaging centers, retail clinics, urgent care and emergency centers, two children's hospitals, and 14 acute care and specialty hospitals. For more information, visit www.azcarenetwork.org.

Contact:    
Lisa Noble
602-820-1772 (o)
602-317-1589 (m)
[email protected]

SOURCE Arizona Care Network

Related Links

http://www.azcarenetwork.org