With the goal of improving maternal outcomes for all women and birthing people, CMQCC and its partners developed The Hospital Action Guide for Respectful and Equity-Centered Obstetric Care (Hospital Action Guide).
The purpose of the Hospital Action Guide is two-fold. First, it will help hospital teams including physicians, nurses, quality improvement leaders, and obstetric champions understand the drivers of inequities in maternal care and deepen the understanding of how and why racism, discrimination, and implicit bias are root causes of maternal inequities. Second, the Hospital Action Guide will provide hospital maternity teams with a sample of equity-centered tools and resources that go beyond California’s Implicit Bias Training and may translate into real change in culture and patient care.
CMQCC launched the Hospital Action Guide exclusively to its California member hospitals on a live webinar in August, hosted by a panel of CMQCC medical, clinical, and program leaders. The Hospital Action Guide is comprised of six modules:
Hospital Action Guide modules
- Understand the Need for Birth Equity to Enhance Equity, Reduce Disparities, Increase Safety, and Meet Regulatory and Legislative Requirements
- Identify Opportunities for Collecting and Sharing Stratified Data on Patient Experience and Outcomes
- Examine Current Equity Practices to Implement Informed and Meaningful Action
- Leverage Patient Care Process and Outcome Data to Address Obstetric Disparities
- Create a Culture of Respectful Care
- Integrating Community Collaboration
Curriculum for new collaborative-like learning initiative
The Hospital Action Guide also provides the curriculum for the CMQCC The Learning Initiative for Supporting Vaginal Birth with an Equity Lens, launched in August 2023 to support California hospitals in reducing disparity gaps in low-risk cesareans. The initiative’s goal is for all patient groups to reach or exceed the Healthy People 2030 target rate of 23.6%. The Learning Initiative is funded through a five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Acknowledgments
CMQCC thanks and acknowledges all organizations and stakeholders who share the urgency to take action to create a positive impact on birth outcomes and patient experience in California. Our appreciation goes out to our Pilot Birth Equity Collaborative members, The Birth Equity Implementation Guide Task Force, the diverse groups of maternal health experts, community organizations, and other stakeholders, leading this work nationally. We are honored to be in your midst.
How to access the Hospital Action Guide
The Hosptial Action Guide is available now through the CMQCC Accounts portal, exclusively for California member hospitals. If you need assistance, please follow this Creating a CMQCC Accounts Profile tutorial. Once in CMQCC Accounts, look for this icon:
After previewing the Hospital Action Guide, please take a moment to share your feedback via our evaluation form.