Table 2.

Episode Costs Relative to Target Cost, By Quarter

Quarter	Control			Intervention
	Mean episode costΔ ($)	Median episode costΔ ($)	Episodes (n)	Mean episode costΔ ($)	Median episode costΔ ($)	Episodes (n)
2015Q4	1824.78	− 3061.55	10	− 1106.89	− 3722.38	15
2016Q1	4406.32	− 2970.84	18	− 2444.01	− 6156.50	13
2016Q2	3557.89	− 2764.76	21	− 2496.23	− 6651.26	4
2016Q3	3273.93	− 8573.30	11	− 1932.50	− 7348.57	17
2016Q4	1446.23	479.93	9	− 55.79	− 6520.07	21
2017Q1	5627.08	− 1725.71	25			0
2017Q2	298.90	− 4937.07	23	− 7048.47	− 7661.11	4
2017Q3	1577.21	− 1788.45	13	2388.46	− 6916.96	11
2017Q4	− 2167.45	− 7693.62	6	4362.69	− 2529.74	9
2018Q1	756.77	− 1037.46	11	2508.43	− 2748.06	12
2018Q2	327.70	− 802.68	7	3405.71	− 5766.68	13
2018Q3	10,305.08	7204.44	7	1568.20	− 723.56	13

Mean and median differences between net episode payment and target cost, by quarter. Cost delta is the episode cost minus the target cost. A negative value reflects an episode cost below target (black); a positive value reflects an episode cost above target (red). Episode costs are those billed to Medicare within a patient’s 90-day care episode, including claims for the index admission, post-acute care and related services, and any readmissions. Target cost is calculated by CMS on a DRG- and quarterly basis by applying a 3% discount to 3 years of historical claims data, risk-adjusted using the hierarchical condition category framework