The PACN Podcast - Dr. James Galasso (Part 2)

In this follow-up conversation, Dr. John Pagan welcomes back Dr. James Galasso to dig deeper into the quality and shared savings programs that have defined his approach to independent practice. Drawing on firsthand experience with Pennsylvania's Governor's Chronic Care Initiative and his current role on PACN's ACO Oversight Board, Dr. Galasso offers a practical, ground-level perspective on what it actually looks like to deliver high-quality, data-driven care in a small independent practice — and why it pays off for physicians and patients alike.

Haven't heard Part 1? Start there for Dr. Galasso's full story — his path to medicine, his community, and why he chose independent practice over the large health systems that surround him.

Key Highlights

Roots in the Governor's Chronic Care Initiative Dr. Galasso's experience with value-based care predates PACN. Under Governor Rendell, he was selected to participate in the Governor's Chronic Care Initiative — a statewide pilot program that partnered practices with Blue Cross to identify high-risk patients, particularly those with diabetes, and improve their outcomes through proactive management. Practices were organized by region, competed against each other, and learned from one another's approaches. The results were striking: in his first year, Dr. Galasso received a check from Blue Cross of over $100,000 — from his practice alone — simply by identifying uncontrolled diabetic patients, bringing them in, and hitting established clinical guidelines. Hospitalizations dropped. Costs dropped. The model worked.

How PACN Amplifies What Works The Governor's Initiative gave Dr. Galasso a foundation, but PACN gives him scale. Where he once relied on one nurse to manage outreach, he now has an entire team behind the scenes scrubbing charts, generating reports, and flagging patients who have fallen out of care. His EMR system — MedEnt — is integrated with a red diamond alert that populates before each visit, telling him exactly what needs to be addressed before he walks into the room. The work that once required significant manual effort now happens largely in the background, freeing him to focus on patient care.

PACN's ACO and the "Big Five" Dr. Galasso serves on PACN's ACO Oversight Board and helped shape the network's focus on five key care touchpoints that drive shared savings under the Medicare ACO program. PACN documented significant savings in its first year of ACO participation in 2022. The five focus areas are:

Ann