Little Evidence Supports Providers Consolidating to Enter New Payment Models

The prevailing wisdom is that payment reform will accelerate consolidation, especially between physicians and hospitals and among physician groups, as providers position themselves to bear financial risk for the full continuum of patient care. Drawing on data from a number of sources, this study — published in the February 2017 issue of Health Affairs — examines the relationship between Medicare’s accountable care organizations (ACOs) and provider consolidation. It found that consolidation was under way before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) established the ACO program and concludes that payment reform has been associated with little acceleration in consolidation in addition to trends already under way.

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.