CMS launches ACO kidney dialysis model

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched a new accountable care organization (ACO) dialysis model to accommodate cost-sharing for end stage renal disease (ESRD). More than 600,000 Americans have ESRD, also known as kidney failure, and need to attend dialysis treatment several times a week.

The Comprehensive ESRD Care Model ACO brings together physicians and other healthcare providers who take on responsibility for the quality and cost of care for a population of beneficiaries with ESRD and builds on the experiences of other ACOs, according to a CMS press release. 

"This new ACO model represents a paradigm shift in care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease," Patrick Conway, MD, acting deputy administrator and chief medical officer at CMS, said in the release. "It promotes a patient-centered approach to their dialysis and non-dialysis care needs that will help accomplish our delivery system reform goals of better care, smarter spending, and healthier people."

Read more about the new ACO here.

Megan Combs

Megan Combs was Associate Editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long Term Living from 2013-2018.