BizWest Media/Daily Camera: Boulder Health Organization Scores High for Quality

TAKES NO. 1 SPOT IN COLORADO

BizWest Media/Daily Camera featured Boulder Valley Care Network’s (BVCN) recent announcement about receiving the state’s top quality score from Medicare while cutting cost of care.

BVCN is a clinically integrated network, meaning its providers share goals for quality, value and health outcomes. The network is comprised of more than 350 of the area’s finest health care providers from Boulder Community Health and Boulder Valley Individual Practice Association.

BVCN is also an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The BVCN ACO achieved a Quality Score of 96.44% for 2019 — ranking it first in quality among Colorado ACOs participating in the Medicare program. It also reduced the total cost of care for its Medicare beneficiaries by $3.1 million.

Read below for the full article:

Boulder Valley accountable care organization scores high for quality

Boulder Valley Care Network, a clinically integrated care network working to improve the health of Boulder County and surrounding counties, received a quality score of 96.44% for its Accountable Care Organization in 2019. The organization outperformed all other ACOs on quality and reduced Medicare costs for beneficiaries by $3.1 million.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, seeks to improve quality while reducing health care costs by encouraging doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to form networks that improve coordination of patient care. These networks of doctors and hospitals are called ACOs.

The health law included the creation of The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Shared Savings Program, an incentive program that rewards health care providers with bonus payments based on an ACO’s ability to deliver high-value care outcomes to Medicare beneficiaries. CMS keeps a portion of savings from quality improvement and cost reduction and then shares with participating ACO providers the savings generated by their work, creating a win-win for patients, providers and American taxpayers.