March 2020
New Program to Increase Access to Maternal and Infant Health Care Among Vulnerable Communities
By: Dr. Derek J. Robinson, M.D., MBA, FACEP, CHCQM, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL)
Preterm birth rates are on the rise in the U.S., affecting approximately one of every 10 babies born each year.1 Unfortunately, the danger doesn’t end upon delivery. Premature birth and related complications are the primary cause of infant death in our country.2 But the risk is higher for some populations. The 2019 March of Dimes Report Card for Illinois shows the preterm birth rate for babies born to black women is 52% higher than the rate for all other women.3
For some Illinois communities, social determinants of health, such as low income, lack of health care coverage and limited access to quality maternity care may contribute to higher rates of premature birth rates and infant mortality. BCBSIL believes access to quality maternal care is a critical step toward improving the health of pregnant and post-partum women and fostering more equitable care delivery in our communities. We’re committed to collaborating with new partners that demonstrate effective new health care solutions and help bring our communities together.
This year, we’re teaming up with a national non-profit organization, Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI), to help close the gap in health disparities and improve maternal and infant birth outcomes in our communities. Through a grant to CHI, we’re supporting expansion of CenteringPregnancy® – an evidence-based, nationally recognized model for group prenatal care – to select Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across Illinois.
CenteringPregnancy is one of several CHI Centering programs that combine health assessment, interactive learning and community building to help support positive health behaviors and drive better health outcomes. Especially in communities at risk for poor birth outcomes, it’s necessary for women to have access to care and resources they need to help them manage their health. Group prenatal care helps women connect with others who have similar questions and concerns. It also frees up time for providers, so they can spend more time on more complex issues.
Through the CenteringPregnancy program, women can receive routine prenatal care, childbirth classes, group therapy and personalized health assessments. CenteringPregnancy sessions are facilitated by a medical professional. There are set topics for each week, but participants can talk about whatever they want, such as proper nutrition, common discomforts, stress management, breastfeeding and infant care.
This evidence-based model to prenatal care is shown to help improve health outcomes by reducing the rate of preterm births, low birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admissions – all while increasing care compliance among participating members.4 The program also helps promote breastfeeding, postpartum depression screenings and healthier pregnancy spacing. With more than 100 published studies and peer-reviewed articles, evidence shows that CenteringPregnancy reduces costs, improves health outcomes for mothers and their babies and reduces racial health disparities.
The first new CenteringPregnancy site locations will be announced later this year. Leveraging data from BCBSIL claim reports, the pilot program will target key ZIP codes in communities with a high prevalence of premature birth outcomes and NICU admissions with suboptimal health outcomes and high cost of services.
It’s important that all our members have a forum to share and be heard, understood, educated, supported and empowered to make decisions that promote their own health and wellbeing. As prenatal care becomes more collaborative and patient-centric, we can help reduce health disparities by being more responsive to the diverse needs of pregnant and post-partum women.
Please continue to watch the Blue Review and News and Updates for more information as it becomes available. CenteringPregnancy site locations and related information will be posted in the Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) section of our Provider website. We hope you will encourage your patients to leverage this innovative learning model.
Learn more about Dr. Derek J. Robinson
1 March of Dimes, Fighting Premature Birth: The Prematurity Campaign, Premature Birth Report Card. Accessed Feb. 12, 2020, at https://www.marchofdimes.org/mission/prematurity-campaign.aspx https://www.marchofdimes.org/mission/reportcard.aspx
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Vital Statistics Reports, Births: Final Data for 2018. Accessed Feb. 12, 2020, at
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_13-508.pdf
3 March of Dimes, 2019 March of Dimes Report Card for Illinois. Accessed Feb. 12, 2020, at https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/tools/reportcard.aspx?frmodrc=1®=17
4 CHI, CenteringPregnancy. Accessed Feb. 24, 2020, at https://www.centeringhealthcare.org/what-we-do/centering-pregnancy
CenteringPregnancy is a trademark of CHI.
The above material is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician or other health care provider. Physicians and other health care providers are encouraged to use their own medic judgment based upon all available information and the condition of the patient in determining the appropriate course of treatment. The fact that a service or treatment is described in this material is not a guarantee that the service or treatment is a covered benefit and members should refer to their certificate of coverage for more details, including benefits, limitations and exclusions. Regardless of benefits, the final decision about any service or treatment is between the member and their health care provider.