Essentia Health earned its best-ever quality score in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
By meeting quality and cost goals in 2019, Essentia saved Medicare $13.2 million, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Essentia scored 95% for quality, the report stated. Essentia had to meet performance standards for 23 quality measures across four categories — patient/caregiver experience, care coordination/patient safety, preventive health and at-risk population.
“Moving from volume-driven, fee-for-service payment to value-based payment that rewards better patient outcomes and lower costs is a key strategic initiative at Essentia Health,” Debbie Welle-Powell, chief population health officer at Essentia, stated in a news release.
The program rewards health care providers for improving the quality of care and population health, as well as lowering health care costs. It focuses on successful and efficient patient outcomes rather than growing the volume of services delivered.
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The $13.2 million of gross savings to Medicare resulted in a shared savings payment of $9.5 million to Essentia, which will be reinvested in patient care, chronic care management and digital technology.
“These results reinforce our commitment to high-quality affordable care for our patients and community. Working together, our patients, providers and CMS all benefit from improving quality, enhancing the patient experience while keeping costs down,” Welle-Powell stated.
