Spring 2021 Conference Agenda
Was Held Virtually
April 20-30, 2021

Agenda | RegistrationSponsorship and Exhibits

The virtual spring conference featured a keynote by ACO thought leader, Dr. Mark McClellan, a fireside chat with SCAN CEO, Dr. Sachin Jain, and a closing town hall with CMS officials, as well as addressed critical issues for ACOs and other value-based payment models.

The conference also featured additional keynotes, four peer-to-peer exchanges, and eight sponsored sessions.  

ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN

 Week 1

Tuesday, April 20

Time – all times are Eastern

Session

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Opening Plenary

Speaker: Liz Fowler, CMMI

12:00 – 12:15 pm

Break 

12:15 – 1:45 pm

Value-Based Contracts: Building Trust Between Payers and Providers
Chair: Chelsea Speth, Aledade 
Speakers: Christopher Day, Anthem; Eric Fennel, Aetna; Melanie Matthews, PSW and MultiCare Connected Care

Join leaders from both ACOs and payers as they discuss the importance of building long-term, sustainable partnerships in the transition to value-based care.  In this presentation, learn about strategies for negotiating value-based care contracts and the benefits of taking on two-sided risk for Commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid populations.

1:45 – 2:00 pm

Break 

2:00 – 3:00 pm

Plenary: Value-Based Care's Future Post COVID
Speaker: Mark McClellan, Duke University 
Facilitated by: Emily Brower, Trinity Health

Nationally recognized health policy expert Dr. Mark McClellan will share his insight into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health system’s transition to value-based care. 

  • What opportunities has the COVID pandemic created to help providers move to VBC?
  • What challenges has the pandemic created?
  • What can providers do to seize the opportunities? 
  • What federal policies would support the transition to value?

Wednesday, April 21

11:00 – 11:45 am

Diving Deeper into Financial and Utilization Impacts: An ACO Cohort Study of COVID-19 Episodes
Speakers: Amy Kotch and Maria Nikol, Salient Healthcare

Join Maria Nikol and Amy Kotch from Salient Healthcare as they discuss how COVID-19 episodes impacted financial and utilization KPI’s across Salient Healthcare’s clients in 2020. Evaluate pre and post pandemic impacts on total cost of care, acute care, post-acute care, telehealth utilization, and preventive services in relation to quality metrics. Review the CMS policy changes, and the impacts of these policy changes on your organization for future performance. How will you consider your shared savings distributions? How will you prepare your organization in a post-pandemic world? Have your plans to move to risk shifted? 

Sponsored by Salient Healthcare

11:45 am – 12:30 pm

Impacting Earned Shared Saving Through Post-Acute Data Transparency
Speaker: Phyllis Wojtusik, Real Time Medical Systems

This session takes an in-depth look at how ACOs can impact earned shared savings though post-acute data transparency. Insights, best practices, and lessons learned will be shared on how obtaining live post-acute data improves care transitions, reduces admissions, manages length of stay, and enables risk stratification at both the facility-level and patient-level. By accessing live post-acute data ACOs can create a cost-effective PAC network, drive clinical performance, mitigate risk, and improve the patient care continuum.

Sponsored by RealTime Medical Systems

12:30 – 2:00 pm

Reach for the Stars: Driving Success in Medicare Advantage Agreements
Chair: Jen Moore, MaineHealth ACO 
Speakers: Jeanette Flood, Delaware Valley ACO; Mark Schario, University Hospitals; Bob Trinh, The Villages Health

This session will include strategies for engaging providers in activities to accelerate performance across MA agreements, considerations for collaborations with payers on patient outreach and data capture tactics and factors to address when negotiating value-based agreements. 

2:00 – 3:00 pm

Peer to Peer Exchange: Low-Risk ACOs
Facilitators: Stephen Nuckolls, Coastal Carolina Quality Care; Nina Taggart, Lehigh Valley Health Network

NAACOS will be facilitating discussions on several different topics during the conference using a Zoom platform so that all participants can come together to network and talk.  Any registered participant can join these discussions and you will be asked to click on a Zoom link that will be provided in emails and on the streaming website during the conference. More information and session moderators will be provided at a later date.  

3:00 – 4:30 pm

Critical Policy Updates for ACOs
Chair: Allison Brennan, NAACOS
Speakers: Dave Ault, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Travis Broome, Aledade; David Pittman, NAACOS 

This session will review key federal policy updates affecting ACOs. Speakers will focus on recent and upcoming legislative and regulatory developments, including actions in Congress and the Administration. Discussion topics will cover Congressional priorities and actions, COVID-19 policy updates, ACO program updates, Innovation Center Model developments and other key policy issues for ACOs. 

Thursday, April 22

11:00 – 11:45 am

Thriving in the Evolving World of ACOs 
Speakers: Gary Albers, CEO, Imperium Health; Kent Locklear, MD, MBA, CMO, Lightbeam Health

In the ever-changing healthcare climate, it is more important than ever to have a comprehensive view of your patient population. Over the years, Imperium Health has perfected its care coordination process, resulting in a great quality score and over $94 million in total Medicare savings for the 2019 performance year. 

In a Q&A format, Dr. Kent Locklear and Gary Albers will discuss strategies to thrive in value-based care models and how to leverage technology to achieve excellent results.

Sponsored by Lightbeam

11:45 am – 12:30 pm

New Opportunities to Succeed in Risk & 340B 
Speaker: Todd Searls, Caravan Health; Greg Paris, Caravan Health, Theresa Amerson, WakeMed Health & Hospitals; Rachelle Schultz, Winona Health

Post-pandemic, safety-net providers need reliable revenue streams to safely succeed in risk-sharing arrangements. In 2022, rural providers can take advantage of a risk-free ACO model that can optimize their 340B drug payment program and population health capabilities. Join this presentation to learn how the safety-net can implement new strategies to secure financial stability and thrive in risk-based payment. Attendees will hear why most Covered Entities miss up to 80% of available 340B discounts, and how to more than double 340B revenue using ACO data and proven workflows. Presenters will also share best practices for implementing a reimagined team-based care model that generates immediate returns.  

Sponsored by Caravan Health 

12:30 – 2:00 pm

Advancing Health Equity
Chair: Tony Reed, Ascension Health
Speaker: Jennifer Houlihan, Wake Forest; Yolanda Rodriguez, Southwestern Health Resources; Reinhold Llerena and Aleta Rupert, AMITA Health

This session will hear from ACO leaders on what they are doing to address health disparities.  Learn basic through advanced approaches being implanted in ACOs today. 

2:00 – 3:00 pm

Peer to Peer Exchange: High-Risk ACOs 
Facilitator: Emily Brower, Trinity Health and Melanie Matthews, PSW and MultiCare Connected Care

NAACOS will be facilitating discussions on several different topics during the conference using a Zoom platform so that all participants can come together to network and talk.  Any registered participant can join these discussions and you will be asked to click on a Zoom link that will be provided in emails and on the streaming website during the conference. More information and session moderators will be provided at a later date.  

3:00 – 4:00 pm

National Excellence in Quality Leaders Award Winners Session
Chair: Megan Reyna, Advocate Aurora Health 

Congratulations to the following three ACOs for receiving the 2021 NAACOS Leaders in Quality Excellence Award.  These three ACOs, selected by the NAAOS Quality Committee, are being recognized for their outstanding efforts to improve the quality and safety of patient care and advance population health goals. During this session they will showcase their exemplary efforts in quality improvement and disseminate best practices.

Friday, April 23

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Plenary: Who is Transforming Care: Payers, Providers or Investors?
Speakers: Sachin Jain, SCAN and Clif Gaus, NAACOS

In a “fireside chat,”  Dr. Jain and NAACOS CEO Clif Gaus will discuss how investors and start-ups are disrupting the old model of health care.

  • Can large bureaucratic healthcare systems transform fast enough?
  • Are hospitals the dinosaurs of health care?
  • Do MA and other health plans add value?
  • What are their views on expansion of health insurance and public option?

12:00 – 12:15 pm

Break 

12:15 – 1:45 pm

Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of Direct Contracting
Chair: Kim Kauffman, Best Value Healthcare 
Speakers: Andrew Allison, On Belay Health Solutions; Gary Bacher, Advanced Illness Partners; Scott Early, On Belay Health Solutions; Rushika Fernandopulle, Iora Health; Andrea Osborne, VillageMD

This session is a good fit for you whether your organization is already a DCE or considering a 2022 start.  The knowledgeable panel will share how they decided that DCE was the right model for their organization, their top priorities for Performance Year 1 and what they are already working on for Performance Year 2.  The panelists represent all DCE types (standard, new entrant and high needs), a combination of payment models (professional and global) and a mix of cash flow options (primary and total care capitation).  This session will focus on operational elements and presumes audience has basic knowledge of the Model.  

 WEEK 2

   Tuesday, April 27

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Plenary: Promoting Health Equity in Value-Based Care
Moderator: Rob Fields, Mount Sinai Health System

Speaker: Alice Chen, Chief Medical Officer, Covered California 

12:00 – 12:45 pm

Let's Get Aligned: DCE Beneficiary Alignment – All the Details you Wanted to Know
Speaker: Sujata Bajaj and William Schweitzer, Episource

This session will focus on key details of beneficiary alignment—and how alignment impacts risk adjustment. Topics covered will include:

  • How voluntary alignment and claims-based alignment work
  • How voluntarily aligned patients turn into claims aligned patients
  • Actionable takeaways around how DCEs should be thinking about alignment 
  • The levers of risk adjustment within these two populations

Sponsored by Episource

12:45 – 2:15 pm

How ACOs Can Implement Remote Monitoring
Chair: David Pittman, NAACOS
Speakers: Carrie Nixon, Nixon Gwilt Law; Sue Parker, NEQCA Accountable Care, Jessica Martensen, Essentia Health 

ACOs are increasingly turning to technology tools that remotely keep tabs on patients’ health outside of the clinic and in their homes. Such technology has the power to improve chronic care management. This panel will explore policy implications of remote patient monitoring’s reimbursement and regulatory scheme, as well as hearing from ACOs who have stoop up their own remote monitoring programs. 

2:15 – 2:30 pm

Break 

2:30 – 4:00 pm

Review of MSSP ACO Quality Overhaul
Chair: Allison Brennan, NAACOS
Speakers: Rob Fields, Mount Sinai Health System; Steven Johnson and Fiona Larbi, CMS 

CMS recently finalized a major overhaul of ACO quality, updating the measures used in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) along with changes to reporting options, ACO quality scoring and shared savings, affected patient populations, and more. This notable update is being phased in over 2021 and 2022. During this session, CMS speakers will walk through these changes, answer ACO questions and provide clarification on key quality concepts affecting ACOs. The session will also include ACO speakers sharing their strategies for meeting the new requirements.

Wednesday, April 28

11:00 – 11:45 am

Using Analytics to Turn Data into Practical Information that Drives Operational, Financial, and Clinical Strategies
Speaker: Jamie Reedy and Ashish Parikh, Summit Medical Group - NJ; Michael Meucci, Arcadia

Hear how to leverage analytics and drive an innovative view to highlight ROI, incentives and care strategies. You'll hear from Summit Health on how their Transitional Care Management (TCM) strategy drove transformational outcomes as well as how Summit Health's analytics program is providing end-to-end visibility into provider incentive achievement:

  • Readmission rates for outreached TCM members 10-15% below others
  • TCM members-visits billed spend less in the 30 days post discharge then members without TCM billed
  • Members with TCM visits billed see their PCP more frequently and are highly likely to be retained within the summit ACO for future risk years
  • TCM also helps bring in additional revenue through cost reduction, billing TCM vs Office visits, and increase in Medicare membership

Sponsored by Arcadia

11:45 am – 12:00 pm

Break 

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Sink or Swim with your Post-COVID Benchmark
Chair: Tim Gronniger, Caravan Health 
Speakers: Victoria Bratcher, Indiana University Health; Sanjay Doddamani, Southwestern Health Resources; Sam Johnmeyer, Multicare Connected Care; Colleen Norris, Milliman

Health executives are challenged with navigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on every aspect of health care service delivery. Not only is the pandemic disrupting day-to-day health system operations, but its effects will ripple through the financial benchmarks that determine an ACO’s savings or losses. This session will help you understand the various impacts of COVID-19 on ACO benchmarks, both now and after the public health emergency ends. We will assess the potential options for CMS in addressing benchmarking, provide insight into how ACO benchmarks have performed during the pandemic, and help you understand the decisions your organization faces.

1:30 – 2:30 pm

Peer to Peer Exchange: Commercial Contracts 
Facilitators: David Carmouche, Ochsner Health; Jamie Reedy, Summit Medical Group - NJ

NAACOS will be facilitating discussions on several different topics during the conference using a Zoom platform so that all participants can come together to network and talk.  Any registered participant can join these discussions and you will be asked to click on a Zoom link that will be provided in emails and on the streaming website during the conference. More information and session moderators will be provided at a later date.  

2:30 – 4:00 pm

Caring for COVID Long Haulers
Chair: Rob Fields, Mount Sinai Health System
Speakers: Ashley Fitch, Mount Sinai Health System; John Halperin, Optimus Health System and Atlantic ACO; David Putrino, Mount Sinai Health System 

COVID 19 has brought with it many challenges for patients, physicians and systems. Among those challenges are the impacts of COVID long after the acute infection passes. So called “long haulers” pose unique challenges to health systems given the lack of common understanding as to the causes, treatments and prognosis of this syndrome. What is clear is that systems will have to include this syndrome in their chronic condition management planning.  In this panel, experts from various health systems will discuss their work in diagnosing “long hauler” syndrome and the protocols they have put in place to manage these patients long term.

Thursday, April 29

11:00 – 11:45 am

How the Use of AI Solutions Can Help Capitalize Your Unstructured Data  
Speakers: Bryan Lee and Terry Ward, Apixio

As we know, ACOs are successful when organizations are able to improve patient satisfaction, and care coordination, reduce cost and protect their annual bench performance. A factor of these steps is to have data that is captured and structured in a way that allows for simple analysis. Considering data acquisition methods have remained mostly unchanged over the past few decades – 60% of the 1.2 billion clinical documents generated annually is unstructured  getting the data needed has long been easier said than done. However, with the use of AI solutions, specifically focused on interoperability, ACO programs can now implement strategies that aid health information exchanges and close the loop on these data silos allowing your organization to be successful day-after-day, year-over-year.

Sponsored by Apixio

11:45 am – 12:00 pm

Break 

12:00 – 1:30 pm

Innovating Through Acute Hospital at Home Programs: The Integrative Platform for ACOs
Chair: Debbie Welle-Powell, Essentia Health 
Speakers: Linda DeCherrie, Mount Sinai at Home; Doug Clarke, CMS; Peter Read, Care at Home

This session will describe how ACOs can establish and maintain successful hospital at home (H@H) programs. Speakers will provide fundamentals such as what H@H is, who are the health care systems launching this program, components for an effective H@H program in your system (i.e., technology, clinical operations, finance, patient engagement), and how to decide whether to build vs. buy services. Plus, the session will review Key Performance Indicators for monitoring a successful program and lessons learned from early adopters.

1:30 – 2:30 pm

Peer to Peer Exchange: Direct Contracting 
Facilitators: Mike Barrett, Wellcare; Kim Kauffman, Best Value Healthcare

NAACOS will be facilitating discussions on several different topics during the conference using a Zoom platform so that all participants can come together to network and talk.  Any registered participant can join these discussions and you will be asked to click on a Zoom link that will be provided in emails and on the streaming website during the conference. More information and session moderators will be provided at a later date.  

2:30 – 4:00 pm

Shared Savings Distribution Model
Chair: Tom Kloos, Optimus Health Partners and Atlantic ACO 
Speakers: Gary Albers, Imperium Health; Rebecca Rohrbach, NOMS ACO

Join us for a presentation and discussion of physician/provider incentive programs. Learn how to motivate physician engagement in your population health models, what works, what doesn’t, and the pitfalls to avoid. Also, a discussion on how shared savings distribution models need to evolve over time to include all ACO participants.

Friday, April 30

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Engaging ACOs and Communities to Address Social Determinants of Health
Chair: Jen Perloff, Institute for Accountable Care 
Speakers: Denise Prince, Mount Sinai Health System; Joanne Lynn and Nils Franco, Altarum; Amy Russell, HCA Mission Health

In this session, we will explore different strategies for identifying and addressing the social and environmental needs of older adults with complex health issues. Panelists will include two ACOs presenting their initiatives to engage and address social determinants of health in a rural and urban context. We will also discuss using community level data to engage public health and other stakeholders in new initiatives to address community wide disparities.

12:00 – 12:45 pm

APM Performance Pathway (APP): Driving ACOs to Multipayer Performance
Speaker: Erin DeLoreto, CareAllies

Finalized in December 2020, the APP will dramatically shift the way in which ACOs report quality data to CMS. On the surface, APP will lessen the need for manual chart review. Digging deeper, however, reporting via the APP will require ACOs and their participating physicians to report quality on all their patient populations: not just original Medicare beneficiaries attributed to the ACO. This session will provide an overview on what these changes mean for ACOs.

Sponsored by CareAllies

12:45 – 2:00 pm

Townhall with CMS
Moderator: Allison Brennan, NAACOS
Speakers: John Pilotte and Pauline Lapin, CMS
Discussants: Patt Richesin, Kootenai Accountable Care; Travis Broome, Aledade

This session includes a town hall format and is an important way for ACOs and CMS to have an open dialogue about the Medicare ACO program, including discussion on evolving policies and how ACOs fit into CMS’s overall goal of improving Medicare payment and healthcare delivery. This is an excellent opportunity for ACO executives to pose questions and receive answers directly from CMS leaders and to hear the newest developments straight from the agency.