Aurora Health Care’s Lakeshore Medical Clinic has been selected to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program as an accountable care organization, a multifaceted new program sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Lakeshore Medical Clinic is one of 89 participants in the shared savings program named by CMS today. The Lakeshore Medical Clinic accountable care organization will include 10,000 Medicare members in the Milwaukee area. Combined, the groups will serve 1.2 million people with Medicare in 40 states and Washington, D.C.
Through the shared savings program, Aurora’s Lakeshore Medical Clinic will work with CMS to provide Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with high-quality service and care, while reducing the growth in Medicare expenditures through enhanced care coordination.
Dr. Masood Wasiullah, president and CEO of Lakeshore Medical Clinic, said participating in the program will keep the clinic at the forefront of medical care.
“Everyone is talking about the future of health care,” Wasiullah said. “It is exciting to have the future here today at Lakeshore Medical Clinic in greater Milwaukee.”
To ensure that savings are achieved through improving care coordination and providing care that is appropriate, safe, and timely, an accountable care organization must meet quality standards. For 2012, CMS has established 33 quality measures relating to care coordination and patient safety, appropriate use of preventive health services, improved care for at-risk populations, and patient and caregiver experience of care.
Lakeshore Medical Clinic patients are expected to gain from enhanced care coordination, such as the addition of an electronic medical record system.
“The electronic medical record will give our primary care physicians and specialists the added benefit of coordinating care through the patient’s chart,” Wasiullah said. "This will heighten the quality of care and avoid duplication of services."
