The NJHA has created a statewide quality collaborative to improve perinatal care for the state's mothers and newborns. The effort will bring together hospital leaders, physicians, nurses, midwives, and others who will meet regularly, supported by expert faculty, to discuss the challenges of perinatal care. They will share problems, strategies, lessons learned, and best practices.
"Our hospitals have been working hard to improve quality on numerous fronts, but I can think of few efforts more important than ensuring that expectant moms receive the healthcare services they need to deliver healthy babies," said NJHA President and CEO Betsy Ryan.
Heather Howard, commissioner of the state's DHSS, will cochair the Perinatal Learning Collaborative.
NJHA applauded the March of Dimes for its work in raising awareness of the importance of good perinatal care. The group recently released a report card that gave the Garden State poor marks for its rate of preterm births, late preterm births (a reflection of cesarean section rates), and the number of uninsured women.
"The March of Dimes report card points out that there are many critical factors in caring for expectant mothers and their babies," said Aline Holmes, RN, NJHA's senior vice president of Clinical Affairs. "Our collaborative will examine the most pressing issues — from communication between caregivers, to educating mothers-to-be about cesarean sections — and will zero in on the key factors where we can make a significant difference in improving care and patient outcomes."
The new collaborative will come under the auspices of NJHA's Institute for Quality and Patient Safety. The institute has used the collaborative model successfully in several other areas, yielding significant results in reducing the number of healthcare-acquired infections, reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers, and improving care in hospital intensive care units.
For more information, go to www. njha.com.
"Our hospitals have been working hard to improve quality on numerous fronts, but I can think of few efforts more important than ensuring that expectant moms receive the healthcare services they need to deliver healthy babies," said NJHA President and CEO Betsy Ryan.
Heather Howard, commissioner of the state's DHSS, will cochair the Perinatal Learning Collaborative.
NJHA applauded the March of Dimes for its work in raising awareness of the importance of good perinatal care. The group recently released a report card that gave the Garden State poor marks for its rate of preterm births, late preterm births (a reflection of cesarean section rates), and the number of uninsured women.
"The March of Dimes report card points out that there are many critical factors in caring for expectant mothers and their babies," said Aline Holmes, RN, NJHA's senior vice president of Clinical Affairs. "Our collaborative will examine the most pressing issues — from communication between caregivers, to educating mothers-to-be about cesarean sections — and will zero in on the key factors where we can make a significant difference in improving care and patient outcomes."
The new collaborative will come under the auspices of NJHA's Institute for Quality and Patient Safety. The institute has used the collaborative model successfully in several other areas, yielding significant results in reducing the number of healthcare-acquired infections, reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers, and improving care in hospital intensive care units.
For more information, go to www. njha.com.
