AHEAD Model Readiness
We prepare hospitals to enter and operate inside Maryland's AHEAD Model, from care transformation planning to payer alignment.
HSCRC Consultants
Every hospital stands on two pillars —
its budget, and its regulatory standing.
Maryland's rate-setting system and the AHEAD Model reward hospitals that understand them, and quietly penalize the ones that don't. Two Pillars & Co exists to make sure you're never on the wrong side of that line — reading the regulation correctly, protecting your budget, and staying compliant as the rules evolve.
Pillar One
Fortify
We reinforce your standing with the Commission — clean filings, accurate cost reports, and a rate history that holds up to scrutiny.
Pillar Two
Rebuild
We find where your global budget is under strain — utilization, cost, quality performance — and rebuild the plan to protect it.
What We Do
Experts in the AHEAD Model and HSCRC
We work on exactly what matters to a hospital operating under Maryland's rate-setting system — nothing generic, nothing outside it.
Global Budget Revenue Strategy
We build the forecasting and operating plan a fixed, prospective hospital budget requires — so volume shifts stop catching you off guard.
HSCRC Rate & Regulatory Compliance
We keep you ahead of the Commission's rate orders, filings, and reporting requirements — before they become findings.
Cost Report & Utilization Analysis
We dig into ICR filings and utilization data to find exactly where a hospital's budget is under strain, and why.
Quality-Based Performance Programs
We align hospitals with HSCRC's quality initiatives — readmissions, QBR, RRIP — so incentive dollars work for you, not against you.
Population Health & Total Cost of Care
We build the care-management infrastructure a fixed budget requires to manage cost and outcomes across your patient population.
Want straight answers about the HSCRC, the AHEAD Model, global budgets, or how any of it applies to your hospital? Ask our chat →
How We Work
The Two Pillars Method
A straightforward process, built around how HSCRC engagements actually need to run — from your concerns to a finished answer.
01
Interview
We sit down with your executives to understand their concerns, questions, and what they need most.
02
Data Collection
We collect your hospital's raw data, thoroughly review it, and organize it into something usable.
03
Analysis
We review the data to see exactly where your hospital's adjustments can take place.
04
Deliver
We report our findings back to you in a way that's readable, clear, and easy to understand.
Our Vision
We believe the difference between a hospital that thrives under Maryland's rate-setting system and one that struggles against it is rarely effort or intent. It's understanding — of how the HSCRC actually evaluates you, and what the AHEAD Model will expect next. Two Pillars & Co exists to close that gap — turning regulatory complexity into a plan your hospital can actually execute, and staying beside you as the rules continue to evolve.
Leadership
Two founders. Two disciplines. One standard.
Emmanuel Johnson
Co-Founder
University of Maine
Emmanuel brings a rare dual fluency in the language of numbers and the language of systems. His background spans accounting, business architecture, technology consulting, and data recovery — giving him a sharp eye for where financial inefficiency hides inside operational design, and the technical grounding to rebuild it, not just report on it. What truly sets him apart is an innate ability to forge profitable partnerships and transform operational inefficiencies into competitive strengths, turning the parts of a business that quietly hold it back into the parts that set it apart.
Shahzeb Khan
Co-Founder
UMBC · University of Pennsylvania · Johns Hopkins University
Shahzeb's path ran from UMBC through a Med Linkage Postbac at the University of Pennsylvania before he pivoted into healthcare management at Johns Hopkins — a shift that gave him a rare vantage point: the analytical rigor of a clinical track paired with the operational discipline of healthcare leadership. He's since built consulting experience across technology and data recovery, as well as clinical economics and healthcare revenue cycle management, and holds his Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (CHFP) credential, sharpening a precise read on where a business's financial and operational systems are actually leaking value. He brings that same precision to every business he advises.
Get In Touch
Let's talk about your hospital's next move.
Reach out with questions about the AHEAD Model, HSCRC compliance, or where your hospital's budget needs a second look.
- Reach Out Directlyinfo@twopillarsco.com
- LocationAvailable for engagements nationwide