Don’t be surprised to see Medicare move more strongly toward Accountable Care Organizations. A new evaluation report for the first performance year of the Next Generation ACO Model shows “promising early results,” CMS says in a release. Results demonstrated “positive outcomes in terms of quality and costs when providers are responsible for managing to a budget.” The results “provide further evidence that ACOs succeed under two-sided risk,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma says in the release. “ACOs in the Next Generation Model are being held accountable with strong financial incentives and are provided with substantial flexibility and regulatory relief.”