Salt Lake City — The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced the 2020 results for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). Intermountain Healthcare’s Castell Accountable Care received a quality score of 97.03 percent and generated $11.5 million in savings for Medicare.

The amount of savings Castell and Intermountain Medical Group have generated for Medicare has increased each year since the Castell ACO was formed.  This was the ACO’s highest savings generated to date, up from $2.5 million in savings from 2018 and $10 million in 2019.

Castell’s ACO managed to grow savings year-over-year and maintain a strong quality score despite the challenges of the Covid pandemic. The organization attributed this success to strong collaboration with partnering providers and the speedy development and implementation of innovative methods for delivering care.

“The Covid pandemic required our accountable care organization to be nimble and evolve how we delivered care. The fact that we maintained a high-quality score and reduced expenditures during the pandemic is not only encouraging when we look at the savings, but it’s proof that our value-based model of care works, and can withstand unforeseen changes in the future,” says Nick Bassett, Castell’s VP of population health services and president of Castell Accountable Care.

“Intermountain Medical Group providers and Castell care coordinators showed incredible dedication and flexibility in the way they helped care for patients. Our teams worked collaboratively to assure patients about precautions taken at Intermountain clinics and screening centers to keep them safe from Covid, while conducting wellness calls and proactive outreach to patients to look after their preventative care,” says Dave Henriksen, VP of clinical operations.

“As an ACO, we can continue to improve each year. We showed statistically significant improvement in our breast cancer and colon cancer screening rates. We helped patients access care in more convenient, less costly ways. And we improved the savings we achieved. Our ACO’s work helps patients, providers, and taxpayers,” says Eric Cragun, executive director of government programs for Castell and administrator for Castell Accountable Care.