UnitedHealthcare announced Wednesday that the company will double its number of accountable care contracts over the next five years, representing more than $50 billion of reimbursements by 2017.
To date, UnitedHealthcare has inked contracts with more than 575 hospitals, 1,100 medical groups and 75,000 physicians. Currently, $20 billion of the health insurer's reimbursements paid to hospitals and other providers are via ACO contracts, which link a portion of the reimbursement to outcomes-based care versus that of traditional fee-for-service.
[See also: Private payers lag Medicare in offering ACO shared savings agreements]
Austin Pittman, president of UnitedHealthcare Networks, said the announcement signifies big improvements not just for payers and providers but also for patients.
"We are improving health outcomes for patients at lower costs by moving even more broadly to value-based payment models and integrating those with our care provider network, product and clinical strategies," Pittman said in a company news release.
While the industry is moving toward more value-based reimbursement models, ACOs still typically operate as fee-for-service -- but add on shared savings or care management funds to the mix. When contacted by Healthcare Finance News' sister publication, Healthcare IT News, UnitedHealthcare officials did not offer clarification as to how exactly its ACO contracts operate.
Its accountable care approach, however, is "much more comprehensive than just ACOs," said William Hollman, spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare, in a statement to Healthcare IT News. The company has a number of performance- and value-based projects, he said.
As noted in its press release, the company's accountable care strategy has already demonstrated improved health outcomes, citing a 4 to 4.5 percent decrease in medical cost trends; 16 percent reduction in emergency room visits; a 17 percent reduction in inpatient stays and all clinical quality results meeting goals for 95 percent of all measures.