Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield has released results of their 2015 Accountable Care Organization’s (ACO) shared savings performance and are reporting that Iowans have benefitted from lower costs for better health care over the past year. The report details that 13 participating provider organizations, which includes McFarland Clinics, improved overall quality scores more than four percent and reached a nearly $200 per member, per year savings. This was achieved by reducing hospital readmissions by 22 percent, patient admissions by nearly eight percent and emergency department visits by almost four percent.. In addition to the savings, members received higher-quality care with improved preventative care services. There was a four percent increase in the number of members who visited a primary care physician, a six percent increase in the number of children taking advantage of well-child screenings and a two percent increase in both mammograms and colon cancer screenings. These 13 ACOs cover more than 179,000 Wellmark members and in 2017, self-funded customers will be offered the ability to have their employees included in that population
