Background
In 2019, the State of Maryland collaborated with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to establish the domains of healthcare quality and delivery that the State could impact under the Total Cost of Care (TCOC) Model. As a result of the collaboration with CMMI, the State entered into
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), that required Maryland to provide a proposal for the
Statewide Integrated Health Improvement Strategy (SIHIS) to CMMI by December 31, 2020. SIHIS aligns with statewide efforts across three domains that are interrelated: 1) Hospital Quality 2) Care Transformation Across the System and 3) Total Health Population: (a) Diabetes (b) Opioid Use Disorder and (c) Maternal and Child Health. Within the Maternal and Child Health domain, there are two goals:
- To reduce the severe maternal morbidity rate, and
- To decrease asthma-related emergency department visit rates for ages 2-17.
Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) is defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “ unexpected outcomes'' of labor and delivery that result in significant short-or long-term consequences to a woman's health. For more information about SIHIS’s maternal and child health goals, please visit the Health Service Cost Review Commission (HSCRC)’s SIHIS webpage
here.
Maternal and Infant Health Initiatives Related to SIHIS
Maternal Health Improvement Strategic and Action Plan
The task force brings together a diverse group of key stakeholders, including officials from state health governing bodies, departments, and agencies; professional organizations; maternity health care providers; insurance payers; patient advocacy groups and local community organizations.
Public Health Grants Made Available by the HSCRC
The Prevention and Health Promotion Administration (PHPA)/Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) within the Maryland Department of Health (The Department) has provided grant opportunities for expanding evidence-based and promising practices in home visiting and CenteringPregnancy, group-based prenatal care. The funding is made available by the HSCRC to support SIHIS Initiatives.
