Accountable care organizations that serve large numbers of minority patients score lower on Medicare quality measures than other ACOs, a new study has found.

According to the study, ACOs serving larger numbers of minority patients perform worse than other ACOs on 25 of 44 Medicare performance measures – and that performance does not improve over time.

The study also pointed out that the minority patients served by ACOs are generally poorer and sicker than other ACO participants.

These are the very patients typically served in especially large numbers by private safety-net hospitals.

Learn more about these and other findings in the report “ACOs Serving High Proportions of Racial and Ethnic Minorities Lag in Quality Performance,” which can be found here.