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Perinatal collaborative showing encouraging results at 16 hospitals

Situation:

Five recurring clinical issues are commonly cited as being responsible for the majority of perinatal harm and associated costs including obstetric professional liability insurance. They are failure to recognize an infant in distress, failure to initiate a timely cesarean birth, failure to properly resuscitate a depressed baby, inappropriate use of labor-inducing drugs, and inappropriate use of vacuum or forceps.

Solution:

The Premier healthcare alliance launched the Premier Perinatal Safety Initiative, a 21-month national collaborative designed to achieve the consistent delivery of evidence-based care with the goal of eliminating preventable birth-related injuries and deaths. The initiative involves 16 of the country's leading hospitals from 12 states in which some 115,000 babies will be delivered during the collaborative. The initiative seeks to significantly lower the incidence of certain infrequent though serious injuries that could result in birth asphyxia, cerebral palsy or permanent neurologic disability. It leverages knowledge gained from similar initiatives – including a Premier/Institute for Healthcare Improvement collaboration. Participating hospitals aim to improve the culture of safety, increase teamwork and improve communication among team members.

Result:

The initiative is more than halfway through and participating hospitals are already reporting that they are making significant progress toward meeting outcome goals and, more important, improving the care they deliver. Participants will share information and best practices and document cost and quality impact consistently and reliably to assess opportunities for improvement. Initiative results and feedback will be offered in a transparent manner so outcomes can be shared nationwide to help transform healthcare.

"It’s challenging, no doubt about it. Modifying practice is always a challenge, but we’ve seen significant changes in practice and improved outcomes since we began. Absolutely without a doubt, the initiative makes you focus on quality. It makes you look at outcomes. It’s very beneficial."

Carolyn Arnold
Director of Women and Infant Services
John C. Lincoln Health Network

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Accountable care organization collaboratives

Quality of clinical care and safety challenges

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