Healthcare Reforms Spur Increase in Screening Mammography
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) have produced small but significant improvements in screening mammography use, according to new Radiology research. Established as part of the Affordable Care Act, MSSP is the largest value-based reimbursement program in U.S. history.
Researchers Anand K. Narayan, MD, PhD, Susan C. Harvey, MD, and Daniel J. Durand, MD, of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, retrospectively reviewed 333 ACOs with more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries from 2012 to 2014.
ACOs participating in the MSSP demonstrated a mean increase of 2.6 percent in use of screening mammography, with 61.6 percent of ACOs reporting improvements, according to results. Their findings are in contrast to results of prior reports on traditional fee-for-service populations in which screening mammography use was unchanged or declined over the same time.
“As reimbursements transition from fee-for-service to population-based models, it will become increasingly important for radiologists to work actively with other stakeholders to determine and develop effective strategies to improve population-based health care,” the authors write.
Web Extras
- Access the study, "Impact of Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations at Screening Mammography: A Retrospective Cohort Study," at pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2016160554