Definition
ACO REACH
ACO REACH (Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) is a CMS Innovation Center accountable-care model for traditional Medicare. Participating ACOs take on financial risk for a group of aligned beneficiaries, receive capitated or partial-capitation payments, and are held to quality and health-equity requirements, including a required plan to serve underserved communities.
Definition
What ACO REACH is
ACO REACH is a CMS Innovation Center model that succeeded the Global and Professional Direct Contracting model. It lets provider-led ACOs manage the total cost and quality of care for aligned traditional Medicare beneficiaries under capitated payment and meaningful downside risk.
What sets REACH apart is its explicit health-equity requirement: each ACO must submit and act on a plan to identify and reduce disparities among underserved beneficiaries. It also emphasizes provider governance and coordinated, whole-person care rather than fee-for-service volume.
Succeeding under a capitated model means proactively engaging every aligned patient, closing gaps, managing chronic conditions, and following up after care transitions, especially those hardest to reach. Rivvi's outbound programs run that engagement as real conversations over voice and text, from a branded number and inside TCPA rules.
ACO REACH, answered
- What does ACO REACH stand for?
- ACO REACH stands for Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health. It is a CMS Innovation Center model in which provider-led ACOs manage cost and quality for aligned traditional Medicare patients under capitated payment, with a required focus on health equity.
- How is ACO REACH different from the MSSP?
- Both are Medicare accountable-care models, but ACO REACH uses capitated or partial-capitation payment with mandatory downside risk and an explicit health-equity requirement, while the MSSP is a broader, permanent program with tracks ranging from upside-only to two-sided risk. REACH is a time-limited Innovation Center model.
- Why does patient outreach matter under ACO REACH?
- Under capitation the ACO keeps what it does not spend on avoidable care, so proactively reaching aligned patients to close gaps, manage chronic conditions, and follow up after discharge is central. The equity requirement makes reaching historically underserved patients a measured obligation, not just good practice.