Jeff Ballou
Senior Fellow
View Bio PageCase Study
Strengthening ACO performance through shared learning
Practical insights that help ACOs improve care quality, enhance patient experience, and reduce costs
Client
Thank you for a fantastic in-person value-based care learning event. The networking [was] invaluable!
70+
virtual learning events and more than 10 in-person meetings per year between 2013 and 2021
Client Need
Powering continual improvement through collaboration
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a cornerstone of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) strategy to deliver high-quality, coordinated, and cost-effective care to Medicare beneficiaries. But successful value-based payment models require continual learning—practical opportunities for ACOs to share strategies, translate evaluation insights, and improve day-to-day operations.
To support this systemwide improvement, the CMS Innovation Center sought a partner to lead a large-scale peer-to-peer learning system that could rapidly disseminate promising practices and help ACOs strengthen quality while reducing costs.
Our Approach
Providing targeted guidance with nationwide reach
From 2013 to 2021, Mathematica led CMS’s Learning System for ACOs, providing technical assistance, peer learning, and targeted dissemination to Medicare ACOs nationwide. The project created peer-to-peer learning events (such as webinars and affinity groups) for sharing action-ready strategies to address data analytics, quality measurement, provider engagement, and beneficiary experience. At the same time, Mathematica developed action-oriented resources—toolkits, case studies, and practice briefs—grounded in lessons from model participants. Both the learning events and resources helped ACOs turn insights into operational improvements.
Key Outcomes
Building stronger ACOs through shared learning
By creating a consistent learning infrastructure, the project helped the CMS Innovation Center and participating ACOs turn policy goals into measurable practice improvements, strengthening the foundation for value-based care across Medicare. The project’s impact can be seen through several key activities and accomplishments. Specifically, Mathematica:
- Conducted more than 70 virtual learning events and 10 in-person meetings per year between 2013 and 2021, providing a sustained national platform for ACO collaboration.
- Produced more than 20 case studies and toolkits featuring strategies to improve care coordination, provider engagement, and beneficiary experience.
- Partnered directly with dozens of ACOs to co-create resources that have been disseminated across the broader Medicare ACO community.
- Built learning and knowledge-sharing infrastructure that continues to inform ACO operations and CMS value-based care models.
Our takeaway
Structured, data-driven learning can help ACOs overcome key challenges—such as evolving quality measure requirements, changing cost trends, ratchet effects, and first-time implementation—and accelerate systemwide change. Mathematica’s proven expertise, demonstrated through its work with CMS, equips organizations to navigate these complexities effectively.
Efficiency Meets Impact.
That's Progress Together.
To solve their most pressing challenges, organizations turn to Mathematica for deeply integrated expertise. We bring together subject matter and policy experts, data scientists, methodologists, and technologists who work across topics and sectors to help our partners design, improve, and scale evidence-based solutions.
Work With Us