Primary Care Where Everybody Knows Your Name - RWJF Alignment
Skip to main content
Home
  • About Alignment
    • What Is Cross-Sector Alignment?
    • RWJF’s Approach
    • Glossary
  • Our Work
    • About RWJF
    • Related Programs
    • Aligning Systems for Health
    • Aligning in Crisis
  • From the Field
    • Resource Library
  • Get Involved
    • Virtual Event Series
    • Related Events
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
Back to ResourcesBack to Resources
Primary Care Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Publication

Primary Care Where Everybody Knows Your Name

View Publication

This article details how Maryland has been a leader in supporting integrated models of care delivery to address the social, environmental, and behavioral factors that have an outsize impact on health.

In 2012, the state funded a four-year, $16 million pilot program called the Health Enterprise Zone (HEZ) Initiative. The initiative—inspired by the urban enterprise zones intended to increase economic development in low-income communities—provided a mix of tax credits and grants to five underserved zones in the state to encourage health providers and community leaders to work together to improve health outcomes and save money.

Between 2013 and 2016, communities with an HEZ reduced inpatient admissions at Maryland hospitals and saved the state’s health system about $93.4 million. Residents in the zones reported that they had become more aware of their health and were exercising more and monitoring their diets. Providers said that the HEZs helped patients manage their chronic conditions.

Beginning in 2019, Maryland primary care doctors have had the option to join in the state’s all-payer Total Cost of Care Model for Medicare beneficiaries, dubbed the global budget. Providers who participate in the model can make more money if their Medicare patients are healthier. The global budget, which already caps the amount of money hospitals can receive for Medicare patients, has been in place in Maryland since 2014. Maryland has had a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since the mid-1970s that enables it to set rates for hospital services.

This article is part of a series on transforming health systems published with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Components of Alignment

Shared Purpose Icon Shared Purpose

Author Organization

Health Affairs

Publication Date

01.07.2019

Topic Area

Chronic Disease
Complex Care
Health Care
Public Health
Social Needs
Webinar

Transit and Treatment: Effectiveness of Transit Systems to Improve Substance Use and Mental Health In Connecticut

Increasing access and retention in treatment services is critical to improving health outcomes and reducing substance abuse overdose deaths. This webinar examines a research project that tests how a transit system can enhance substance abuse treatment outcomes and reduce provider-level treatment costs for substance abuse amidst the opioid crisis in Connecticut. It also examines how treatment costs differ before and after a new transit line and/or a change in transit service schedules.

Podcast

Improving Aging Supports Through Collaboration

In this podcast, Medicaid leaders from Michigan and Indiana discuss strategies they’re using to address these issues, including their efforts to co-design solutions with Medicaid members.

Webinar

Introduction to Shared Stewardship

This webinar explores shared stewardship, a way of working together and making decisions that will build and sustain a future where everyone can thrive.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
©2025RWJF