Tufts Signs ACO Partnerships with Four Providers

WATERTOWN — The Mass. Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) announced that Tufts Health Plan has signed contracts to form Medicaid (MassHealth) accountable care organization (ACO) partnerships with four provider organizations: Atrius Health, Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization, Cambridge Health Alliance, and Boston Children’s Accountable Care Organization.

The new ACOs feature a value‐based payment structure for providers who had largely been paid fee for service for MassHealth members in the past.  For members, this means the opportunity to receive medical, behavioral, dental and long-term support services in an integrated model of care. This will improve quality of care, the member experience, and potentially help stabilize Medicaid costs in Massachusetts.

“We support the Commonwealth’s goal of providing integrated health care to MassHealth members that is more efficient and improves their overall health,” said Tom Croswell, president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan. “We have partnered with four highly-regarded provider groups, all of whom share our vision of what collaboration and highly coordinated care can look like.”

MassHealth ACO transformation is a major component in the state’s five-year innovative 1115 Medicaid waiver from the federal government, which allows Massachusetts to restructure the current health care delivery system for 1.9 million MassHealth members