CMS fact sheet explains how hospitals can achieve ‘birthing-friendly’ status

In an effort to promote better maternal health outcomes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed establishing a birthing-friendly hospital designation in its latest draft payment rule. In a fact sheet, CMS explained how hospitals would achieve the designation. A separate document described the CMS Maternal Mortality Structural Measure. Related research recently published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety explored the systems-level factors affecting nurses caring for women in labor. The authors concluded, “Issues with task overload, tools, and technology inhibit nurses’ abilities to respond appropriately to women in labor who experience clinical deterioration,” and recommended steps administrators might take to mitigate these performance obstacles. (Medpage Today article, 4/19/22)