Data support considerations in Medicaid accountable care organization programs

Medicaid accountable care organizations (ACOs) need data on their attributed populations to successfully improve health outcomes and manage patients’ total cost of care. This includes data on members’ health status; emergency department and inpatient utilization; and risk scores, ideally accounting for social risk factors — such as homelessness, past incarceration, and child protection involvement. State Medicaid agencies have developed a number of approaches to provide data to organizations participating in Medicaid ACO programs.

This technical assistance brief, made possible by The Commonwealth Fund, outlines what types of data Medicaid ACOs need to successfully operate and details how several states provide data to organizations participating in ACOs.