Table.
Characteristics of Accountable Care Organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program
| Start date | Number of ACOs |
|---|---|
| April 2012 | 27 |
| July 2012 | 87 |
| January 2013 | 105 |
| January 2014 | 119 |
| Total number of active ACOsa | 338 |
| Number of ACOs with a website | 322 |
| Number of ACOs with organizational details on websiteb | 313 |
| Number of ACOs with shared savings distribution plan on website (includes “to be determined”)c | 285 |
| Number of ACOs with actual shared savings percentage allocations onlined | 176 |
| Number of participating entities in ACO | 313 reporting |
| 1 | 42 (13.4%) |
| 2–5 | 43 (13.7%) |
| 6–10 | 40 (12.8%) |
| 11–20 | 57 (18.2%) |
| 20 or more | 131 (41.9%) |
| Composition | 313 reporting |
| PCPs only | 49 (15.7%) |
| PCPs and specialists | 124 (39.6%) |
| PCPs, specialists, and hospital(s) | 140 (44.7%) |
| Academic medical centerse | 49/338 (14.5%) |
| External stakeholdersf | 313 reporting |
| Yes | 67 (21.4%) |
| No | 246 (78.6%) |
ACO indicates accountable care organization; PCP, primary care provider.
Only active ACOs, based on a public CMS database, were analyzed.
Only 313 of the active ACOs had a publicly available list of their participating members and governing board composition.
Of all ACOs, 285 stated how their savings would be distributed and either stated that their plan was “to be determined,” had general statements, or had a detailed plan with specific percentage allocations.
Of all ACOs, 176 have provided detailed plans with particular percentage distributions to various categories.
An ACO that included at least 1 Association of American Medical Colleges member institution was termed an academic medical center.
External stakeholders were determined by a distribution to an investor/shareholder or by an outside entity holding a seat on the governing board.