The Ochsner Accountable Care Network (OACN) is once again demonstrating that high-quality, well-coordinated care and meaningful cost savings do not have to be mutually exclusive.
In 2024, Louisiana’s largest Accountable Care Organization (ACO) saved Medicare $44.8 million while improving care for nearly 60,000 beneficiaries. Since launching in 2013, OACN has generated more than $205 million in savings—while steadily improving patient outcomes and experience.
That progress was underscored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) latest Medicare Shared Savings Program report. Among 476 ACOs nationwide, Ochsner Health ranked No. 3 for care coordination based on patient surveys and placed in the top 11% overall for quality.
Ochsner Health is part of the AMA Health System Member Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.
For Sidney “Beau” Raymond, MD, MMM, medical director and executive director of OACN, the patient-reported nature of that recognition makes it especially meaningful.
“What we're most proud of is the patient survey results,” said Dr. Raymond. “You're asking patients directly what they think of the care that they're receiving, and when you find out we rank No. 3 in the nation for care coordination, that's huge.”
Why patient perspective matters
Care coordination rankings are based on how patients perceive their care—not just on administrative measures or clinical process metrics. For Ochsner, that distinction is critical.
“It means that patients are saying we're doing everything we're supposed to, to make sure they're getting the right care at the right time,” Dr. Raymond said.
Those results reflect years of intentional investment in teams designed to support patients with complex needs, particularly those at highest risk.
“We have groups that are dedicated to that aspect,” he said. “We have outpatient case managers who work with the highest risk individuals to make sure that they're getting to the right place, and the right things are being done.”
Beyond coordination, patients also rated Ochsner’s ACO high on related measures such as helpful office staff and clinician communication—signals that the experience of care is resonating across touchpoints. That distinction matters, Dr. Raymond added, because patient surveys capture something process measures cannot.
But patient surveys are not without their challenges. Responses may reflect only a specific encounter or can be completed by a family member rather than the patient. That uncertainty makes the results even more striking.
“Considering some things that always cause concern about patient surveys, it's remarkable that we have those sorts of results,” Dr. Raymond said.
At the center of that performance is Ochsner’s facility-based, integrated care model—one that allows teams across the continuum to see and act on the same information.
“Coordinated care that comes with being a facility-based organization is actually what's making a difference here,” Dr. Raymond said. “People feel like they're being taken care of from their primary care to their specialists, and everybody's able to see what's happening.”
Value-based care as a cultural engine
Ochsner’s success did not happen overnight. Much of it has been driven by a long-term commitment to value-based care contracts, including enhanced-track ACO models that reward outcomes rather than volume.
“We have enhanced-tracked Accountable Care Organizations, as well as pay-for-performance contracts, which again require that we're doing all the right things for all those people,” Dr. Raymond said.
Those arrangements allow Ochsner to fund services that are not always reimbursed under traditional fee-for-service care but are critical for patient outcomes.
“We're able to do more things that are not considered reimbursable at this moment in time,” he said.
Building that infrastructure to support being able to provide those services takes commitment and patience.
“It takes a while to start building the infrastructure that's necessary to be successful,” Dr. Raymond said. “The payments probably aren't going to be coming for several years, but once you have that, now you have the flywheels moving in the right direction.”
Data and analytics play a key role in sustaining that momentum.
“You're able to identify where the next opportunity is,” he said. “That's where we have a good amount of analytics as well.”
Learn more with the AMA about value-based care, including ways to improve data sharing and best practices for payment methods.
Targeting the right touch at the right time
One of the most significant evolutions at Ochsner Health has been how care teams identify and engage patients who need support.
“Who is it we need to be reaching out to?” Dr. Raymond said. “How are we impacting those people? What's the right way to do that outreach? These are the questions we’ve trained ourselves to ask for all our patients.”
The answer is rarely one-size-fits-all.
“For some people it may be a simple nudge,” he said. “Others may need much more support and encouragement.”
That realization prompted a redesigning of clinical care coordinator workflows. Rather than focusing solely on closing individual care gaps, teams now prioritize patients with higher overall risks including social needs and likelihood of emergency department use.
“Before, it was just ‘do you have an open gap in care?’” Dr. Raymond said. “Now it's identifying who has the most need for outreach .”
The goal is to reduce fragmentation and simplify the patient experience.
“How can we improve our outreach process so only one person is contacting the patient and being more of their co-pilot?” he said. “We want to make sure they're getting everything that they need in that one phone call. That’s how we can more efficiently improve healthcare.”
Using data to support daily decisions
To support physicians at the point of care, Ochsner has invested heavily in clinical decision support tools embedded directly into the EHR.
“We have some very bright physicians who are helping us create what we call dynamic smart sets within Epic,” Dr. Raymond said.
These tools pull together relevant labs, medications and evidence-based recommendations for patients with complex chronic conditions, flagging opportunities for improvement without adding cognitive burden.
“It makes it easier for the physicians to provide all of the necessary care consistently,” he said.
Just as important, the system allows for rapid updates as new evidence emerges.
“This is to shrink that delay,” Dr. Raymond said, “because we're able to monitor what's going on and simply adjust the smart set in the background.”
For patients, tools such as eConsults reduce unnecessary visits while keeping care timely.
“From a patient satisfier aspect, eConsults help them avoid an unnecessary visit,” he said. “And, most importantly, they are getting their needs addressed.”
Recognition—and what comes next
For physicians and care teams, national recognition is affirming but not an endpoint.
“It's a nice big pat on the back,” Dr. Raymond said. “You think you know how things are going, but until you hear from the patients directly you can’t say with certainty.”
The data also helps clarify where to focus next.
“We do a great job at getting patients screened for cancer,” he said. “We’re also doing really well at controlling diabetes and hypertension. That started with monitoring these trends.”
Now, Ochsner is pushing further upstream, redesigning chronic care with an emphasis on prevention, early identification and long-term disease control.
“How do you prevent somebody from getting it in the first place?” Dr. Raymond said. “And once they have it, how do you make sure it's well controlled? We strongly feel the answers to those questions will open up a great deal of progress for our populations’ health.”
That philosophy extends across the full continuum of care.
“It’s a full-on, start-to-finish approach,” he said. “If we're able to do things upfront, then we're reducing the burden of the next levels of complications.”
Ultimately, Dr. Raymond sees that upstream focus as essential not just for Ochsner but for the future of health care in the region.
“It's all about moving further upstream,” he said. “Because that's the only way we're going to make a difference in the future health of our states.”
