St. Luke’s University Health Network shared $40 million in savings with the federal government as a reward for controlling costs in the Lehigh Valley while providing high-quality medical care to Medicare patients in 2023.

St. Luke’s was paid 40% of the Medicare savings because it achieved a high-quality score while providing cost-effective care to older and disabled patients.

The Medicare Shared Savings Plan is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“The network achieved this remarkable accomplishment by keeping costs lower than expected while also delivering high-quality care,” said Christina Lewis, executive director of St. Luke’s Care Network.

An accountable care organization (ACO) comprises physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians, as well as hospitals and other health care facilities that come together voluntarily to provide high-quality and cost-efficient care to Medicare and Medicaid patients.

St. Luke’s formed its ACO in 2018, which today includes roughly 2,000 physicians and advanced practitioners, both employed by SLUHN and in independent community offices, serving 42,000 Medicare patients who selected primary care physicians participating in the ACO.

Since 2018, St. Luke’s has saved Medicare $121 million.

“This recognition and shared-savings reflect our providers’ commitment to collaboration and evidence-based medicine as we control costs by providing the right care in the right place and at the right time,” Lewis said.

St. Luke’s initiatives that improved care while reducing costs include:

• Proactive care management services driven by artificial intelligence analytical tools to identify patients at higher risk for poorer outcomes.

• Use of evidence-based, patient-centric clinical protocols developed by physicians and other clinical leaders across the spectrum of care including hospital, outpatient, home care and skilled nursing facilities.

• Real-time clinical decision support tools in the electronic health record to aid in the ordering of the most cost-effective tests.

• Focus on preventive care services and other initiatives to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and readmissions.

The MSSP was started in 2013 to stem the continuously increasing cost of health care in the U.S. while maintaining a focus on the delivery of high-quality care.

Benchmarks for the MSSP include both expected total cost of care, based on the complexity of the population served, and quality measures compared to peer providers.

St. Luke’s has received reimbursement for four years in a row.