Maryland Hospital Acquired Conditions (MHAC)

Overview

The Maryland Hospital Acquired Conditions (MHAC) program is based on a system developed by 3M Health Information Systems to identify potentially preventable complications (PPCs) using present-on-admission codes available in claims data. 3M originally developed specifications for 65 PPCs, which are defined as harmful events that develop after the patient is admitted to the hospital and may result from processes of care and treatment rather than from the natural progression of the underlying illness. For example, the program holds hospitals accountable for respiratory failure and pulmonary embolisms that occur during inpatient stays. These complications can lead to 1) poor patient outcomes, including longer hospital stays, permanent harm, and death; and 2) increased costs. Thus, the MHAC program is designed to provide incentives to improve patient care by adjusting hospital budgets based on PPC performance. The maximum penalty remains at 2 percent, and the maximum reward is increased to 2 percent.

The CRISP Reporting Services Portal hosts a few types of reports built for users to understand hospital performance under the HSCRC’s Maryland Hospital Acquired Conditions (MHAC) Program.

Below is a brief description of each type:

1. MHAC Summary Report – this excel file contains each MD Hospital performance results by PCC. The report is refreshed monthly.
2. MHAC Detail Level Report – this excel file contains the patient level details for observed PPCs at one single hospital. You must be credentialed and approved by the Hospital Point of contact to view this report.  The report is refreshed monthly.

For more information on the MHAC policy, please visit the following HSCRC website page.