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NewYork Quality Care, the accountable care organization (ACO) of NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine, saved Medicare $23,288,625 in 2019 and improved the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, according to performance results recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The three institutions will share $11,003,875 of the total savings generated by the program and reinvest the funds back into the ACO in order to further enhance the quality of care provided in this healthcare system. This is the third consecutive year that NewYork Quality Care has earned shared savings in the CMS Medicare Shared Savings Program.  

Accountable care organizations like NewYork Quality Care, which was established in 2015, are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers that work together to provide Medicare beneficiaries high-quality, coordinated care while helping to reduce health care costs. These organizations can share in savings they generate for Medicare if they meet specified savings and quality thresholds. This encourages ACOs to improve the coordination and integration of health care for patients, particularly those with high-risk medical conditions, and prioritize prevention and wellness.

In 2019, NewYork Quality Care, which provides care for more than 37,000 Medicare beneficiaries, achieved more savings for Medicare than any other accountable care organization in New York State that participated in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, according to the CMS data.

NewYork Quality Care has improved the quality of care for tens of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries at NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine while producing millions of dollars in savings 

- said Dr. Paul N. Casale, executive director of NewYork Quality Care.

The achievements of NewYork Quality Care are the result of a close collaboration between all three of our participating organizations, whose talented and dedicated doctors, nurses, and care teams have helped make our ACO so successful.

In addition to the savings, NewYork Quality Care achieved a quality score of 94.5 percent in 2019, a nearly 6 percent increase from 2018. The quality score includes performance on patient experience and a number of quality measures ranging from preventive health screenings, like breast cancer and colorectal cancer screenings, to preventing hospital readmissions. Under the program, care managers with NewYork Quality Care help patients with complex medical needs to improve care coordination and medication management, and can help address social needs like transportation, food insecurity and housing. NewYork Quality Care also assists with remote patient monitoring and telehealth programs at NewYork-Presbyterian and the academic medical institutions to enhance care provided at home for Medicare beneficiaries in the ACO. In 2019, NewYork Quality Care saw a decrease in hospitalizations and emergency department visits, in part due to improved care coordination and proactive outreach to patients. The health of patients is enhanced by avoiding unnecessary procedures or interventions, a reflection of the high-quality medical care provided at these institutions.

NewYork Quality Care gives NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medicine an equal voice in the design and operations of the program, allowing for shared learning that helps everyone improve their performance. From 2017 to 2019, NewYork Quality Care has saved a total of $64.6 million for CMS, earned a total of $28.3 million in shared savings, and significantly improved the quality score from 82 percent in 2017 to 94.5 percent in 2019.

We are proud that NewYork Quality Care is delivering both lower-cost and, most importantly, higher-quality care to the Medicare beneficiaries we are honored to serve

- Dr. Casale said.