Request for Comments
Date Posted: June 14, 2018
Petition for Amendment of COMAR 10.24.07 State Health Plan
for Facilities and Services: Psychiatric Services
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) has
requested that the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) amend Standard AP 4a
of COMAR 10.24.07, the State Health Plan (SHP) regulations used in reviewing
general and special hospital projects involving facilities for the provision of
acute psychiatric hospital services. UMMC’s petition for amendment can be accessed here:
Standard AP 4a states:
“A Certificate of Need for child, adolescent or adult acute psychiatric beds shall be issued separately for each age category. Conversion of psychiatric beds from one of these services to another shall require a separate Certificate of Need.”
UMMC proposes amendment of this standard so that
hospitals with an existing child psychiatric program could add an adolescent
psychiatric program without the requirement of obtaining a Certificate of
Need. It proposes an amended Standard AP
4a as follows:
“A Certificate of Need for child, adolescent or adult acute psychiatric beds shall be issued separately for each age category. Conversion of psychiatric beds from one of these services to another shall require a separate Certificate of Need. However, a hospital with existing child psychiatric beds may add an adolescent service without a Certificate of Need.”
MHCC is soliciting comments on this proposed amendment of the State Health Plan. The SHP defines a “child” as an individual aged 0-12 and an “adolescent” as an individual aged 13-17. The following hospitals operate acute psychiatric programs for the hospitalization of children and/or adolescents:
Adventist HealthCare Behavioral Health and Wellness Children and adolescents
Brook Lane Children and adolescents
CalvertHealth Medical Center Adolescents
Carroll Hospital Adolescents
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Adolescents
MedStar Montgomery Medical Center Adolescents
MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital Adolescents
Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital Children and adolescents
Sheppard Pratt at Ellicott City Adolescents
Suburban Hospital Adolescents
The Johns Hopkins Hospital Children and adolescents
University of Maryland Medical Center Children
Please submit comments in writing to Paul Parker, Director, Health Care Facilities Planning and Development, MHCC, 4160 Patterson Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215 or paul.parker@maryland.gov
Comments are due NO LATER THAN Friday, July 6,
2018 at 4:30 pm.
Request for Comments
Date Posted: June 8, 2018
Request for Comments
Date Posted: June 6, 2018
DRAFT CHAPTER COMAR 10.24.20 State Health Plan for Facilities and Services: Comprehensive Care Facilities
The Commission is soliciting comments on a draft update of our State Health Plan regulations for comprehensive care facilities, or nursing homes. This is an update to COMAR 10.24.08 and, when finally established as regulations, will be COMAR 10.24.20. We are asking for “informal” comment at this time which will be used to develop draft proposed regulations for consideration by the Commission. When proposed regulations are approved by the Commission, there will be a “formal” comment period upon publication in the Maryland Register.
Among the key changes in this draft update are: (1) Docketing rules that, based on the applicant’s history of compliance with state and federal law and requirements, can disqualify potential applicants; (2) Exceptions to the bed need standard permitting the Commission to consider projects in areas without bed need, but with a limited choice of quality providers, and to consider projects in areas without bed need that are intended to reduce the costs of care through collaborative efforts with hospitals; (3) An updated bed need forecasting methodology.
Please submit comments in writing to Linda Cole, Chief, Long Term Care Policy and Planning, MHCC, 4160 Patterson Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215 or linda.cole@maryland.gov
Please be advised that the period for filing informal public comments has been extended until Friday, July 13, 2018 at 4:30 p.m.
Modernization of the Maryland Certificate of Need Program
On June 25, 2017, Maryland’s Senate Finance Committee and House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee (Committees) requested that the Maryland Health Care Commission develop recommendations on modernizing Maryland’s health facility planning and CON programs as Maryland continued to implement hospital global budgets under the All-Payer Model and planned for the migration to the Total Cost of Care Demonstration in 2019.
The MHCC formed a Task Force in 2017 to identify specific issues with the MHCC's approach to State Health Plan development and Certificate of Need review. The Task Force was co-chaired by Commissioner Randolph Sergent and former Commissioner Frances Phillips. Commissioners Haffey, Metz, and O'Grady also served on the Task Force. The Task Force conducted a systematic review of health planning and CON processes that apply to hospitals, nursing homes, home health, hospice, inpatient substance treatment, and residential treatment centers. The Task Force developed a draft Interim Report that was presented and adopted at the May MHCC meeting. The Interim Report has been submitted to the Committees in compliance with the request.
The MHCC welcomes comments on the Interim Report and your suggestions on how the issues identified in the Interim Report might be resolved. Your input will be carefully considered in the next phase of Work Group meeting that will begin in late June. The focus of those meetings will be on developing recommendations that modernize State Health Plan development and CON review and better align these functions with requirements in the new Total Cost of Care Model agreement that Governor Hogan announced in May.
The MHCC requests that you submit your comments to Ms. Ruby Potter by June 22, 2018. The complete record of the CON Modernization Task Forces is available here.
• Cover Letter
• Volume I: Interim Report
• Volume II: Appendices