Aledade Expands Footprint With New Medicare ACOs in 7 Additional States

Aledade, launched by former national coordinator for health information technology Farzard Mostashari, MD, is looking to expand its footprint throughout the United States to another 7 states.

The company, which partners with independent primary care physicians to help them create and run accountable care organizations (ACOs), currently is present in 4 states: New York, Maryland, Delaware, and Arkansas. In June, Aledade raised $30 million in Series B funding, and now it has applied to CMS to establish new ACOs in 7 states beginning January 1, 2016.

In 2016, the company will create new ACOs in Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. With ACOs in 11 states, Aledade would cover more than 80,000 Medicare beneficiaries while working with more than 100 practices.

The funding raised in June will support this expansion throughout the US, which Dr Mostashari told AJMC.com at the time.

“Two months ago, we vowed to put our new funding to work by expanding our ACO partnership model to independent primary care physicians across the country,” Dr Mostashari said in a statement. “Today, we are taking another step to fulfill that promise—and to deliver high-quality, value-based care to doctors and patients across the country. We’ve been working with practices in these states for months, and we’re already seeing the power of placing independent primary care doctors at the center of their patients’ care.”

In a Web-based session of The American Journal of Managed Care’s ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition held in June, Travis Broome, MPH, MBA, healthcare policy lead at Aledade, explained that the ACO model is even more timely and pertinent today given CMS’ announced timeline to move to value-based payments and the legislation repealing the sustainable growth rate formula that gives physicians a 5% bonus for participating in alternative Medicare payment models like ACOs.

Each of the new ACOs established by Aledade will be led by a dedicated executive director from the company, who will work with a local physician partner as medical director.

“Partnering with Aledade gives us the capital, tools, and expertise to succeed in the new health care environment, and be rewarded for keeping patients healthy,” Jennifer Brull, MD, who will act as the medical director of Aledade’s Kansas ACO, said. “We’ve already been working with the Aledade team for months, and we can’t wait for official CMS recognition.”