ACO-Affiliated Hospitals Reduced Rehospitalizations from Skilled Nursing Facilities Faster than Other Hospitals

This Commonwealth Fund study of hospitals in metropolitan areas found that those affiliated with ACOs were faster than non-affiliated hospitals in reducing 30-day readmission rates for Medicare patients previously discharged to skilled nursing facilities. The authors say the greater success of ACO hospitals on this key measure of care coordination may be attributable to improvements they’ve made in discharge practices or to better communication with skilled nursing facilities.

ACO News is a feature of the Medicaid Accountable Care Organization Resource Center, an online collection of tools designed to help Medicaid agencies develop and launch accountable care organizations.