Implications for ACOs of variations in spending growth.

The Medicare Pioneer and Shared Savings Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs offer health care provider organizations contracts with Medicare whereby the organizations assume financial risk and are rewarded for providing high-quality care at lower cost. ACO spending targets will be determined on the basis of baseline Medicare spending for assigned populations, projected forward by average increases in national Medicare spending. The stated rationale for using national spending growth factors is to exert greater downward pressure on organizations in regions with high spending and rapid spending growth, while permitting greater savings in regions with low spending and slow growth to support organizational investments in infrastructure. PMC ID: PMC3408002 (May 10, 2012)