Memorial Hermann affiliates to participate Medicare savings program

Two affiliates of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System have been selected to join a new program designed to offer more preventative medicine at lower costs.   Memorial Hermann Accountable Care Organization and the Memorial Hermann physician network MHMD will participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.   Through the program, MHACO will work to provide Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with high-quality care while lowering the increase in Medicare costs through preventative medicine and management of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases.   In addition to Memorial Hermann's 12 hospitals, MHACO is a 332-member provider network that includes independent physician practices and physicians employed by Memorial Hermann affiliates. Physicians are part of the Advanced Primary Care Practices patient-centered initiative.    "Working in partnership with MHMD, Memorial Hermann has been on the forefront of advancing the health of Southeast Texans by delivering care that is coordinated, patient-centered, high quality and safe," said Dan Wolterman, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, in a press release. "The selection of MHACO as an ACO will give us an opportunity to be accountable for the stewardship of a large population of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. MHACO will leverage clinically integrated physicians and technology to improve and deliver quality outcomes, while at the same time providing better value to health care consumers."   An estimated 100,000 people in the Houston area will benefit from the MHACO as the initiative expands.    For more information about Memorial Herman and the new MHACO program, visit memorialhermann.org.