CMS Announces Successes of Pioneer ACO Model

​Participants in the Pioneer accountable care organization (ACO) model achieved higher-quality care and lower Medicare expenditures during their first performance year, states a July 16, 2013, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) press release. Provisioned by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and launched by the CMS Innovation Center, the Pioneer ACO model was designed to encourage providers and caregivers to deliver better-coordinated care for Medicare beneficiaries while using healthcare dollars more wisely. According to CMS, costs for the more than 669,000 beneficiaries aligned to Pioneer ACOs grew by only 0.3% in 2012, whereas the costs for similar beneficiaries grew by 0.8% during the same period.