Accountable Care Organizations Serving Deprived Communities Are Less Likely to Share in Savings

Primary care physicians are increasingly participating in accountable care organizations (ACOs). While prior studies have identified ACO and patient characteristics associated with savings, none have examined characteristics of the communities served by ACOs. Our objective was to assess the relationship between an ACO's service area characteristics and its savings rate.

In this cross-sectional study, we used the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 2014 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO Provider and Beneficiary, and Public Use Files to identify ACO and beneficiary characteristics. We used the American Community Survey to measure community deprivation at the ACO service area-level by using the social deprivation index. The outcome of interest was the ACO savings rate. We conducted bivariate analyses and regressions, adjusting for ACO organization and beneficiary characteristics.

Our sample consisted of 320 ACOs participating in the Shared Savings Plan. The savings rate for ACOs serving the most deprived communities was 1.19% compared with 1.14% for those serving the least deprived. Adjusting for ACO and beneficiary characteristics, however, ACOs serving the most deprived had a savings rate that was 2.3 percentage points lower than those serving the least deprived.

ACOs serving deprived communities generate less savings. These findings are important to primary care practices, payers, and policy makers anticipating continued ACO expansion, if population health is to be achieved equitably.