Southeastern Health Partners Generates More than $40M in Medicare Savings Over Four Years
Southeastern Health Partners is helping make health care more efficient, generating more than $40 million in Medicare savings in the past four years.
Southeastern Health Partners helps provide patients with access to the best quality care, while also reducing healthcare costs by helping sick patients stay healthier and healthy patients remain well.
Southeastern Health Partners generated more than $13M in savings in 2020 with participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program for over 55,000 Medicare beneficiaries, while achieving a 97.5 percent quality score.
Southeastern Health Partners has consistently been among the most efficient Accountable Care Organizations within its benchmark group, with per capita expenditures of $9,042 in 2020. Even among the most efficient 345 Accountable Care Organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program that achieved savings in 2020 – those with an average annual benchmark of $10,896 in per capita expenditures – Southeastern Health Partners ranks near the top.
Launched in 2017, Southeastern Health Partners is a collaboration of 13 hospitals and more than 2,500 providers. In each of the last four years, the effort cut Medicare costs in South Carolina by more than $9 million, while also receiving quality scores of more than 92 percent, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Southeastern Health Partners, in its first year of operation, became the largest Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organization in South Carolina – based on the total number of Medicare members attributed to providers in the program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rewards Southeastern Health Partners for improving quality of care and reducing costs. Southeastern Health Partners ended 2020 with a savings rate of 2.6 percent on its Medicare population. Southeastern Health Partners’ success is particularly notable given its already low benchmark cost. This means that before starting to cut costs, Southeastern Health Partners providers had lower costs per Medicare patient than most other providers. Then, Southeastern Health Partners providers reduced costs even further, illustrating that tight financial goals can be met while improving quality care for Medicare patients.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses Accountable Care Organization and Medicare Shared Savings Program models to lower Medicare spending and keep the Medicare program sustainable for the long term. Success depends on hospitals, physicians and other clinicians encouraging patients to maintain their health through better habits – including taking medication as prescribed — in order to prevent unnecessary emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations.
About Southeastern Health Partners
Southeastern Health Partners is a clinically integrated network that supports doctors and their care teams by making sure they have the most up-to-date information about an individual patient’s health and care.
Founded in 2017, Southeastern Health Partners is a joint venture by four healthcare systems, AnMed Health, Bon Secours St. Francis, Self Regional Healthcare, and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, and four provider networks, Regional HealthPlus, Health Partners Bon Secours St. Francis, Health Partners of the Lakelands, and Piedmont Health Partners.
Southeastern Health Partners supports more than 13 hospitals and over 2,800 providers who work to improve community health, elevate the patient experience through coordinated care, and lower healthcare costs.
For more information, contact:
Keith Newnam
804-572-3669
keith_newnam@SoutheasternHealthPartners.org