March 4, 2025
By Casey Korba, director of policy
The value-based care community gathered together in-person and virtually last week to share the successes of accountable care, and to discuss strategies to overcome barriers and move forward to recruit more clinicians into accountable care models.
More than 2,000 participants logged-on or came to events in Washington, D.C., to learn more about successes in value-based care, and what policy solutions are needed to encourage more adoption of value-based care nationwide.
Addressing consolidation will help independent practices
Farzad Mostashari, M.D., founder and CEO of Aledade, participated in a panel about the challenges and potential solutions to address consolidation in health care and allow more primary care practices to remain independent.
Value-based care provides more stable and predictable payments for independent practices, and helps ensure high-value care delivery and quality are at the forefront, rather than simply consolidating and gaining market share to be able to set the price with little competition.
Mostashari acknowledged the success of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) to enable independent practices to earn more, and mentioned Aledade’s participation in the new Flex model, which is testing new features and potential innovations such as more upfront money and predictable monthly payments within the MSSP.
Congressional outlook
A panel of bipartisan congressional staffers, including Abigail Chance (Ways & Means Committee), Marisa Salemme (Senate Finance Committee) and Catherine Hayes (GOP Doctor’s Caucus) provided an outlook for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Discussing the role of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI), there was an acknowledgment that past analyses have not been able to adequately quantify the positive effects of models on health outcomes and savings – and there is a need for more transparency around what has worked.
One central point of agreement: the ACO model – including MSSP, which is the permanent, flagship program, has been proven to improve care and achieve savings – and there is interest from many in Congress to increase participation in ACOs. There was also agreement that reforming the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) is necessary, to make transitioning to alternative payment models (APM) the clear choice over remaining in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).
In terms of messaging to consider, the ACO community should continue to demonstrate that ACOs and alternative payment models (APMs) most effectively implement prevention and chronic care management.
Closing keynote focuses on the future of value-based payments
Travis Broome, Aledade’s senior vice president of policy and economics, was part of the closing keynote roundtable, along with representatives from the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the National Association of ACOs to discuss their joint playbook featuring recommendations toward a sustainable future for value-based payment.
The playbook discusses best practices to collaborate and move forward with key value-based payment arrangement concepts, including patient attribution, benchmarking, risk adjustment, quality performance, financial risk, payment timing and accuracy and incentives.
Finally, Aledade joined many of our fellow travelers for the ACO Innovation Showcase, an event on Capitol Hill hosted by Accountable For Health that enabled us to share with staffers and members of Congress the great innovations coming out of the ACO community and the positive impact the ACO model is having on patients and practices around the country. We have many champions in Congress who want to help us advocate for policies that will help grow and sustain MSSP, ACO REACH and ensure learnings from new models like ACO PC Flex continue.
Overall, Health Care Value Week was a fantastic opportunity to educate and inform newer members and staff, update and thank our champions, while sharing best practices and working through challenges together.