Why ACOs Need a New Approach to Specialty Care and How NEXT Healthcare Solutions Is Leading the Way

Across the country, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are carrying more weight than ever. They’re expected to deliver better outcomes for growing patient populations, all while managing rising costs, tighter margins, and increasingly complex value-based contracts.

For many, the challenge isn’t in primary care—it’s in the episodic care blind spot. Post-acute utilization, surgical variation, and fragmented specialty care remain some of the costliest, hardest-to-control areas of medicine, for even the most successful ACOs.

Deacon Health was built to close that gap. Our partnership with NEXT Healthcare Solutions, is a powerful example of how we help ACOs meet this challenge head-on.

“This partnership sends a strong signal that ACOs are ready for a new approach to managing specialty care and post-acute episodes,” said Herb Fritch, founder of HealthSpring. “What makes Deacon different is the speed, the scalability, and the results generated by the model. It’s exactly what ACOs need to deliver quality care without losing financial ground.”

The Missing Piece in ACO Performance

For most ACOs, managing surgical episodes, post-acute transitions, and complex recoveries requires a different level of coordination. These create ongoing pressures that stretch internal teams and directly impact outcomes.

Deacon helps ACOs like those owned by NEXT Healthcare Solutions to manage the high-cost, high-variation episodes that traditional population health models often overlook. Our evidence-based coordination approach keeps care aligned with ACO goals, without requiring new infrastructure or headcount.

Working alongside ACO leadership, we:

• Guide patients through complex episodes from pre-op to rehab
• Optimize post-acute utilization by reducing length-of-stay variation and supporting timely, safe discharges
• Strengthen network integrity to prevent costly leakage

Our Patient and Transition Coordinators work as an extension of ACO care teams—building trusted relationships, maintaining follow-through, and ensuring every episode stays connected from start to finish. Behind the scenes, Deacon’s AI-driven technology supports this human-led model by integrating seamlessly with population health systems and EHRs, giving ACOs actionable insights without disrupting existing workflows.

The impact is clear for both ACOs and patients:

• 4% 30-day readmission rate (vs. 10–15% national average)
• 13.5% average medical-loss-ratio (MLR) reduction
• 91% patient satisfaction

A Shared Vision for Better Outcomes

Since its founding in 2012, NEXT Healthcare Solutions has become one of the most respected ACOs in the country, overseeing more than 140 practices and 700 practitioners. Deacon will partner with three of its organizations (West Florida ACO, Central Florida ACO, and Space Coast ACO) to manage surgical episodes for Medicare patients within their MSK population.

Under this model, primary care providers will refer patients to Deacon, and our team will navigate each care episode, coordinating closely with post-acute facilities to ensure a seamless experience and better outcomes.

For Deacon, this partnership is an opportunity to bring real clinical and financial impact to a proven leader in value-based care.

“ACOs like NEXT Healthcare Solutions want the same thing we do: empowered practices that deliver better outcomes for patients,” said Kyle Cooksey, President and CEO of Deacon Health. “Our role is to provide the specialized tools, people, and processes that make that possible, while aligning incentives through measurable results and shared-risk performance.”

Stronger ACOs Through Smarter Partnerships

The future of value-based care will be shaped by partnerships that combine compassion with innovation and strategy with execution. This collaboration is about helping NEXT Healthcare Solutions manage risk more confidently, reduce avoidable spend, and improve outcomes without overburdening their team.

“ACOs are going to be at the center of value-based care for years to come,” said Larry Cash, former President and CFO of Community Health Systems. “But long-term success means finding the right partners to manage both population health and complex episodes. Deacon is built for that—smarter, more connected, and scalable in all the ways that matter.”

As value-based care continues to evolve, so will the demands on ACOs. Managing quality and cost across the full spectrum of care will be essential. The partnership with NEXT Healthcare Solutions is just one example of how Deacon is helping ACOs rise to the occasion with speed, precision, and empathy.

We’re proud to begin this journey with NEXT Healthcare Solutions, and we look forward to sharing results in the months ahead.

If you’re an ACO leader facing similar challenges, we’d love to connect.