From Data to Dollars: Houston Methodist’s Strategy for ACO Growth and Quality Care

We’re so excited to announce our latest episode on More health Less Healthcare! This time, Peter Boland sits down with the amazing Julie Andrieni —an inspiring leader with not just one, but multiple hats at Houston Methodist. If you’re interested in what’s working on the frontlines of healthcare transformation, especially around physician leadership and population health, you’ll love this insightful conversation.Here are 5 keys you’ll learn in this episode:1.     The Power of Physician Buy-In Julie Andrieni shares exactly how involving primary care physicians from the very beginning—and giving them a voice—can spark real culture change and transform results.2.     Data Transparency & Trust Discover how unblinded, transparent data (yes, everyone sees everyone’s results!) has built a level of trust that helps practices improve year after year.3.     Real Financial Incentives It’s not all about pride (but that matters too!). Julie Andrieni breaks down how their incentive structure rewards top performers and motivates everyone to strive for better quality care.4.     Supporting the Whole Patient Learn how Houston Methodist partners with community organizations—like food banks and even real estate agents—to address social needs that impact patient health.5.     Patience, Persistence & Progress The secret sauce? It’s a long game. Julie Andrini reveals how their best results came after years of steady improvement—and why having leadership’s support from day one is non-negotiable.Fun fact from the episode:                                                                                                                                                                                 When Houston Methodist started sharing performance data transparently at practice meetings, the initial reaction from docs was, “The data isn’t right!” But after personally sitting down to review the numbers, what did they find? The data was right—and friendly competition (with trophies and honor rolls!) went through the roof. Julia Andrieni, MD is the Senior Vice President of Population Health and Primary Care at Houston Methodist. She is a physician executive leader with national recognition for Value-Based Care with innovative patient care models improving quality and reducing costs at a system level. Her multi-disciplinary team at Houston Methodist is responsible for over 100,000 Medicare lives and over 50,000 commercial lives. Dr. Andrieni is the Founder and CEO and President of Houston Methodist Coordinated Care (HMCC)  Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in collaboration with over 350 Primary Care providers. In 2024, HMCC ACO ranked #1 nationally for Academic Medical Center ACOs for total Savings Per Patient. HMCC ACO is also in the Top 2% nationally (476 ACOs) for Medicare Shared Savings Programs for both Quality Performance and Earned Savings. For the past 9 years, HMCC ACO has sustained 90th percentile quality performance and earned savings while taking financial risk. In 2024 and 2025, Pearl Health recognized Dr. Andrieni as one of the Top 50 Value-Based Thinkers.