Instead of drumming up more business with big-name doctors, stand-alone emergency departments and high-tech equipment, Maryland hospitals this year will do the unthinkable: strive to admit fewer patients. The federal government earlier this month approved a first-of-its-kind regulatory scheme in Maryland that aims to reduce spending on hospital services, which are the most expensive form of health care. The plan uses financial incentives to push hospitals to work with doctors outside their buildings to keep people healthier. In approving Maryland's Medicare waiver, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the plan could be a model for other states.
