In January 2014, Maryland’s hospitals agreed to partner with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation on a five-year experiment to test whether a shift in hospital focus from acute emergency care, surgeries and inpatient stays toward preventive, community-based care could not only control cost growth but also help people get and stay healthy, before they need a hospital visit.
This was a 180-degree turn from the traditional hospital business model and from the way things are done just about everywhere else in the country.
