By Tracey Drury – Reporter, Buffalo Business First
Aug 29, 2022
A physician group affiliated with Kaleida Health and Erie County Medical Center has been selected for a federal incentive program aimed at boosting quality care for Medicare recipients.
The Great Lakes Integrated Network was selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to launch the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) under a new model dubbed Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health to be known as REACH.
REACH presents a greater focus on health care disparities and works with physician-led organizations. It’s the newest alternative payment program from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. According to CMS, the REACH program is designed with financial incentives to encourage health care providers to better coordinate care for people with Medicare, especially those from underserved communities.
Great Lakes represents more than 600 physicians, including primary care and specialty-care providers.
Dr. Paul Shields, chief medical officer, and Edina Vukic, interim executive director and chief operating officer, will lead the efforts for Great Lakes.
In a statement, Shields said the program is expected to reduce inequities and better support care delivery and coordination for underserved communities in the region.
“GLIN’s participation in the ACO REACH model is a win for our community,” he said.
Great Lakes is partnering with COPE Health Solutions, a national population health management firm, to help the transition to value-based care.
Other regional health care providers have adapted new payment models that focus on quality and performance versus traditional payment systems that focus on quantity. They include the Greater Buffalo United ACO, a state-certified accountable care organization operated by CINQCARE (which last year acquired GBUACO parent G-Health Enterprises); and Catholic Medical Partners, an affiliate of Catholic Health, which withdrew from a different federal ACO model in 2018 after it became unsustainable.
The federal program begins in January and runs through 2026.