All Pioneer ACOs Improve Care, Only Some Lower Costs After One Year in Program, CMS Data Show

All 32 "Pioneer" accountable care organizations improved the quality of patient care in the first year of the program, but only about one-third lowered costs by enough to generate shared savings, according to data released Tuesday by CMS. The program is one of the Affordable Care Act's signature initiatives to produce better care at a lower cost.

• "All Pioneer ACOs Improved Quality; Only Third Lowered Costs" (Blesch, Modern Healthcare, 7/16).
• "Mixed Results in Health Pilot Plan" (Beck, Wall Street Journal, 7/16).
• "Details for Title: Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations Succeed in Improving Care, Lowering Costs" (CMS release, 7/16).