Accountable care organizations need to develop a robust population health management infrastructure to achieve savings and improve the quality of care.

 By Jennifer Bresnick

June 01, 2016 - Healthcare providers who wish to succeed as accountable care organizations have to address a lengthy checklist of tasks, strategies, and technologies long before they can hope to accrue shared savings from Medicare or a private payer. 

Developing the partnerships and population health management techniques to stratify patients, communicate effectively, meet demanding quality measures, and slash costs can be a difficult journey – and one that is nearly impossible without a robust health IT infrastructure to form a solid foundation of data-driven insights.

South East Michigan Accountable Care (SEMAC), a physician-owned participant in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), has learned that data analytics and population health management technologies are a smart investment for success in the challenging environment of value-based care.

As a large provider group entering its second three-year stint as a Track 1 MSSP ACO, Executive Director Anthony Vespa is hoping that SEMAC will continue to leverage its evolving health IT programs to accrue additional shared savings in the future.

“We saved $24 million in our first year in 2012, which led to a performance bonus of $12 million,” Vespa said to HealthITAnalytics.com in an interview. 

READ MORE: Patient Engagement, Population Health Are Key to ACO Success