How should hospitals prepare for the new maternal health accreditation standards?

As rising rates of maternal mortality have gained national attention, there has been a renewed focus on providing top-quality care for mothers.

This attention is desperately needed: According to the latest numbers, the U.S. maternal mortality rate climbed to nearly 30 deaths for every 100,000 mothers giving birth—double the mortality rate of other first world nations. What’s more, an estimated 60% of these deaths are preventable.

Minority women, in particular, are disproportionately impacted in the U.S.: black women are three times more likely to die, and American Native and Alaskan women are more than twice as likely to die around the time of childbirth than white women.

Policymakers have taken notice of the urgent need for action, initiating measures at both the state and federal level to identify evidence-based interventions and strategies that can help to reduce these numbers.

But there are also significant measures being taken by the medical community. With rising concerns about the growing maternal mortality rates in the U.S., many hospitals are adopting evidence-based practices and protocols to prevent more tragedies from occurring.

Last year, the Joint Commission issued a report introducing two new standards that address maternal hemorrhage complications and severe hypertension/preeclampsia. 

Starting in July 2020, the Joint Commission will require hospitals to meet 13 new “elements of performance” (EPs) related to maternal health as part of the accreditation requirements. This includes new standards for using prevention, early recognition, and timely treatment to address maternal hemorrhage complications and severe hypertension/preeclampsia, two of the most common causes of pregnancy-related deaths.

Some of the specific recommendations will require hospitals to:

• Develop written, evidence-based procedures to identify and treat the conditions
• Stock easily accessible hemorrhage supply kits
• Provide role-specific education to all staff and providers who treat pregnant/postpartum patients at least every two years
• Conduct response procedure drills at least annually
• Educate patients on signs and symptoms that warrant care during hospitalization and after discharge

OB hospitalists, while not specifically identified in the new requirements, are uniquely positioned to support hospitals’ implementation of the EPs. For example, OB hospitalists can actively collaborate with leadership teams at their partner hospitals to assess current efforts and confirm understanding of the Joint Commission standards, including sharing best practices about the new standards across their network of hospital partners; serving as onsite subject matter experts for hospital partners in understanding and meeting the new standards; and providing clinicians with regular, comprehensive training on maternal emergencies.

In close coordination with the assigned provider, OB hospitalists can also take the lead role in educating patients at discharge on postpartum complications related to hemorrhage, hypertension, preeclampsia and other conditions identified in The Joint Commission requirements. An OB hospitalists’ unique onsite position allows them to take as much time as needed to ensure patients fully understand warning signs and the need to return for emergency care quickly. 

Ob Hospitalist Group (OBHG), the nation’s largest and only dedicated OB/GYN hospitalist provider, has been educating hospitals across the country about the new EPs. The main goal is ensuring that hospitals are compliant with the new standards before July.

OBHG is also conducting gap analyses to review where hospitals are meeting the standards and where there are gaps and implementing drills and simulations regarding hemorrhage and hypertension.  

Reducing maternal mortality rates is a team effort and will require a commitment by both hospital leaders and providers across the full spectrum of obstetric care to make significant sustainable differences.

Are you interested in learning more about preparing your hospital for the new maternal health accreditation standards?  Learn more about how Ob Hospitalist Group is partnering with hospitals to prepare for the new standards at obhg.com.
 

Ob Hospitalist Group was founded on the vision and commitment that every expectant mother presenting to labor and delivery would receive consistent, unconditional, quality medical care by a highly-skilled clinician. Today, OBHG is the largest and only dedicated OB/GYN hospitalist employer in the nation. Learn more about at obhg.com.