We encourage all member hospitals to actively monitor their hypertension and preeclampsia metrics in the Maternal Data Center. There are several different tools available in the MDC to support your work.
On your hospital’s landing page, you can access two different tools specific to preeclampsia and hypertension under the Patient Safety Watch section:
Under the Preeclampsia Patient Safety link, you can find several different measures to evaluate processes and outcomes related to preeclampsia and maternal hypertension.
An important process measure to consider in quality improvement for hypertension and preeclampsia is Timely Treatment for Severe Hypertension. This measure evaluates whether obstetric patients who had severe-range blood pressures received anti-hypertensive treatment in a timely manner in accordance with best practice recommendations. The Maternal Data Center provides tools in order to support this chart review. You can learn more about this measure in the Implementing and Sustaining Maternal Quality, Safety, and Performance Improvement section of the Improving Health Care Response to Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Toolkit.
Secondly, you can utilize the Joint Commission Maternal Safety Standard Tool for Hypertension/Preeclampsia. In this bundle tool, you can track your hospital’s progress in addressing the Maternal Safety Standard. Throughout the bundle, you will find links to resources from the HDP Toolkit to help address each step of the Maternal Safety Standard.