New Waiver Positions Us for the Future

Today, Maryland hospitals announced our support for the state’s application to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for a new Medicare waiver.  The key to the new waiver is that is creatively builds on the state’s current system to make Maryland’s hospitals ready for a new future of care, which has already started at WMHS.

The original waiver was based on the condition that Medicare’s inpatient costs in Maryland would not grow faster than they did across the nation. The new waiver expands hospitals’ focus from inpatient care to improving the coordination of care both inside and outside the hospitals.  The new conditions control costs, improve the patient’s experience of care and the quality of that care, and provide hospitals with more tools to improve the health of the communities we serve.  

There was a tremendous amount of work done over the past two years to craft this new waiver.  It was worth the effort since it will enable all Maryland hospitals reach the Triple Aim of higher quality, lower costs, and a healthier Maryland.