JAMA study shows modest overall savings in ACO PGP demo

Researchers found modest estimates of overall savings associated with the Physician Group Practice (PGP) demo, a five-year demonstration considered a precursor to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicare ACO Shared Savings Program, but larger savings among the dually eligible patients. The PGP demo generated $114 in average savings per patient and $532 in savings per dual eligible patient each year, with savings achieved in large part through reductions in hospitalizations, according to a study published Sept. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 CMS launched the PGP demonstration in 2005 as a collaboration with 10 large medical practices, which included 5,000 physicians and 220,000 Medicare patients.