In partnership with GRC, the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative (OPQC) is leading multiple quality improvement initiatives aimed at improving maternal and infant health outcomes in Ohio. Funded by the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and the Ohio Department of Health, key partners include Ohio’s Maternity hospitals, health and human services agencies, and stakeholder groups. The Perinatal initiative is comprised of four individual projects including:
Reducing Scheduled Deliveries
The 39-Weeks Project seeks to reduce the number of scheduled deliveries without medical indication between 36 0/7 and 38 6/7 weeks gestation. Since 2008, Ohio has seen a shift from 16.68% to 5% in 2013 for non-medically indicated scheduled deliveries. This has resulted in at least 46,350 babies being born at 39 weeks or later.
Decreasing Bloodstream Infections
Nosocomial infections occur in in 15-30% of preterm infants and cause increased morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs. This initiative aims to decrease late onset bloodstream infections in premature infants between 22 and 29 weeks gestation through increasing the reliability of the catheter care maintenance bundle. Piloted in 24 Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in Ohio, participating sites reported an increase from <30% to 80% in reliability, which resulted in a 20% decrease in infections among infants with a catheter.
Human Milk
Breastmilk provides several benefits to babies, including reducing the likelihood of certain illnesses, childhood obesity, and allergies. The goal of the Human Milk Project is to ensure that human milk is provided within 72 hours at at least 80% of preterm infants 22-29 weeks gestation and ensure that more than 95% of infants receive over 100ml/kg/day of human milk by 21 days of life. Currently, 78% of infants are fed human milk within the first 72 hours of life.
Antenatal Corticosteroids (ANCS): The ANCS project aims to reduce health complications and infant mortality by ensuring over 90% of eligible pregnant moms-to-be receive ANCS between 24 0/7 and 33 6/7 weeks gestation. Data indicates that 86% of eligible births are documented as having received ANCS. In November 2014, an ANCS toolkit was developed to improve the identification and administration of ANCS, and provide information on how to document ANCS administration.
