Study: Six factors reduce maternal mortality in health care facilities

Ensuring that senior leadership was involved in day-to-day quality activities and dedicated to quality improvement was one of six factors found in high-performing health care facilities that successfully reduced maternal mortality, a study in the June issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology found. The qualitative study included 50 semi-structured interviews with health care professionals in four low-performing and four high-performing hospitals in New York City. High-performing hospitals were also more likely to have a strong focus on standards and standardized care; strong nurse-physician communication and teamwork; adequate physician and nurse staffing and supervision; sharing of performance data with nurses and other front-line clinicians; and explicit awareness of racial and ethnic disparities. Findings suggest that low-performing hospitals could use targeted quality initiatives to improve maternal health outcomes.