The MEDTAPP-directed Maternal Opiate Medical Supports (MOMS) Project was a two-year quality improvement initiative that seeks to improve maternal and fetal health outcomes, improve family stability, and reduce costs of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) to Ohio’s Medicaid program by providing treatment to pregnant mothers with opiate issues during and after pregnancy through a Maternity Care Home (MCH) model of care. This model will identify promising treatment practices, including Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), for pregnant mothers eligible for or enrolled in Medicaid who are dependent or addicted to opioids during and after pregnancy. Over the course of the 2 year project, MOMS will work to:
- Improve fetal outcomes and family stability;
- Improve 12 month treatment retention rates of pregnant mothers who are dependent or addicted to opioids by 30%;
- Reduce low birth weights (LBW) in infants by 30%; and
- Reduce average Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) length of stays by 30%.
The project team achieved these objectives through the utilization of a modified version of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Breakthrough Series Model for Improvement. Specifically, the project team will worked together to:
- Identify best practices to develop and implement a clinical and patient toolkit that will be utilized at the pilot sites to guide improvement work;
- Employ the MCH model which is a team based healthcare delivery model that emphasizes care coordination and wrap-around services engaging expecting mothers in a combination of counseling, MAT, and case management;
- Implement a quality improvement structure involving monthly technical assistance calls to share and discuss best practices, quarterly clinical learning sessions, and individual coaching calls; and
- Develop and implement rapid cycle quality improvement feedback.
Building Teams for Healthy Moms and Babies
The MOMSOhio.org site has many resources for moms, moms-to-be, and healthcare providers, including clinical resources like detailed treatment algorithms. Visit the site today and gain access to this important information!
Four pilot sites were selected by OhioMHAS through a competitive bidding process and include CompDrug, Inc., First Step Home, Inc., Health Recovery Services, Inc., and MetroHealth Medical Center. Among the four sites, a minimum of 300 pregnant women who are dependent or addicted to opioids will be engaged to participate.
Additionally, ODM has selected a research team from the University of Cincinnati College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services through a competitive bidding process to conduct the MOMS project evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation is to examine the extent to which the MOMS intervention is effective in reducing LBW in infants, decreasing NICU length of stay, and increasing treatment retention. The evaluation will consist of three main components: focus group of MOMS pilot site staff, survey and semi structured interviews with MOMS patients, and a quantitative dataset analysis utilizing five data sources, including Medicaid claims and encounter data.
Please click here for a fact sheet that includes more information about the project.
The Office of Health Transformation (OHT), the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) funds MOMS.
