Delivering Quality
in Health Care
As an Accountable Care Organization, OneCare aims to improve quality while stabilizing costs. Quality measures help OneCare assess health care processes, outcomes, and patient perceptions linked to high-quality health care delivery. OneCare is accountable for both the quality and cost of health care and is committed to supporting providers as they work to reach quality targets.
Each year, health care organizations and providers in OneCare work together to meet quality measures. Organizations participating in OneCare may earn financial incentives for meeting or exceeding quality benchmarks.
OneCare paid $6.3 million in quality payments to health care organizations in 2019. Health care organizations earn quality dollars with high scores on standardized measures of quality.
How We Improve Quality
Quality Measures
OneCare works to align quality measures across its payer programs and uses two types of quality measurement standards. Pay for Reporting measures are those that OneCare is required to report by accurately submitting quality measurement information. Pay for Performance measures are used to determine financial incentives available to participants based on overall quality measure scores.
OneCare measures quality in four areas chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These areas are:
- Patient/caregiver experience
- Care coordination/patient safety
- Preventive health
- At-risk populations
See OneCare’s 2021 Quality Measures, 2020 Quality Measures, and 2019 Quality Measures. For more information about Vermont’s progress toward achieving the All-Payer Model Agreement targets, click here for to find reports on the Green Mountain Care Board website.
Annual Quality Plan
Every year, OneCare develops a Quality Work Plan which includes quality assurance activities, performance measurement,
To support quality improvement over time, OneCare performs quality activities on behalf of the OneCare community of providers.
Quality Assurance activities focus on
Performance Measurement activities include the annual collection of quality measurement data. Quality measure collection uses a payer level random sampling of patients that are reviewed for provider adherence to best practice guidelines.
Performance Improvement activities support the development and continuous improvement of a provider-driven, integrated health care delivery system structured at the local community level.
2019 Results for Quality Measures
- 30 Day Follow-Up after Discharge from the ED for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse or Dependence
- Developmental Screening in the First 3 Years of Life
- Diabetes Mellitus: Hemoglobin A1c Poor Control (>9%)
- Engagement of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse or Dependence Treatment
For the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont Qualified Health Plan (BCBS QHP), OneCare received a score of 81%, earning 14.5 of the 18 available points. OneCare received two bonus points for achieving statistically significant improvement in the following measures:
- Hypertension: Controlling High Blood Pressure
- Diabetes Mellitus: Hemoglobin A1c Poor Control (>9%)
2018 Results for Quality Measures
The quality scores that OneCare achieved for 2018 are 85% for Medicaid, 86% BCBSVT QHP (Health Exchange), and 100% Medicare (Medicare was reporting only for 2018). Please note that it is too early in the model to make year over year comparisons of the quality results due to the growth of the population, but we are working on ways to represent progress year-to-year.
Quality Measure Scorecards by Payer
Shared Savings
What is shared savings?
The goal of the Vermont All-Payer ACO Model is to move the health care delivery system from volume-based to value-based payments. Providers are eligible to receive savings for meeting performance goals. If Shared Savings are earned, 100% of the savings are reinvested in OneCare network participants.
How does shared savings work?
Each year, OneCare sets a budget with payers for the cost of health care for a population. If the cost of health care for that population exceeds the set amount, OneCare pays the overage back to the payer. If the cost of health care is lower than the budgeted amount, the savings stay with OneCare and is reinvested in the provider community. This provides for predictability and stability in health care spending.
OneCare does not keep savings. Funds are reinvested in the provider community to offset investments already made, to develop and enhance population health programs, and to offset risk.
2019 Results for Shared Savings
Combined Shared Savings and Losses for Performance Year 2019: Forthcoming
Medicare: Participating providers earned a total of $11.3 million in Medicare shared savings from collaborative work to improve beneficiaries’ outcomes and overall health of the Medicare population. Of the $11.3 million, OneCare paid $8 million of advanced shared savings throughout 2019 to fund the Patient Centered Medical Home, Community Health Team, and SASH population health management payments. The remaining $3.3 million will be distributed directly to risk-bearing providers that participate in OneCare’s Medicare program and reinvested in additional programs, services and initiatives to further improve health and reduce costs.
Medicaid: OneCare Vermont went over the budget target for Medicaid and the year-end reconciling payment represents providers accepting accountability for cost and quality of care. OneCare paid Department of Vermont Health Access $6.7 million for the 2019 performance year.
BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont: For 2019, OneCare participated in the BCBSVT program as upside risk only. The ACO did not receive shared savings or losses.