Texas initiative to improve childbirth outcomes is working

In the summer of 2018, Texas hospitals united to improve childbirth safety in the state, and the initiative has led to significant changes in hospital protocols since, according to Houston Public Media.

The Texas Hospital Association and Texas Department of State Health Services launched the initiative, Texas AIM, which today includes 218 of the 225 hospitals in the state.

The initiative focuses on reducing obstetric hemorrhage, improving obstetric care for women with opioid use disorder and reducing severe hypertension in pregnancy. So far, the initiative has led to several changes in how hospitals care for women during childbirth.

Jeny Ghartey, DO, maternal medical director at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, told Houston Public Media that the initiative has helped change how physicians screen for hemorrhage. In the past, physicians "just estimated the blood loss at the time of delivery," she said. Now physicians measure exactly how much blood a woman has lost, even weighing any sponges soaked in blood.

The initiative also has encouraged more open communication among hospitals. Leslie Barnard, RN, director of the family birth place unit at Permian Regional Medical Center in Andrews, told Houston Public Media that in the past when she had questions about improving care she could only get in touch with big hospitals in the state. But since Permian Regional only sees about 330 deliveries a year, advice from larger hospitals was somewhat useless for her team.

Now, smaller hospitals and those in rural areas can share best practices via their participation in the initiative.

Texas AIM also led to the creation of a central place for childbirth outcomes data, which has resulted in more hospitals conducting multidisciplinary reviews to improve care, Manda Hall, MD, associate commissioner for community health improvement at the Texas Department of State Health Services, told Houston Public Media.

 

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