Saturday, December 21, 2024
12/21/2024
In 2016, advocates from across the state helped the Washington State Legislature pass Senate Bill 6534 mandating and funding a multidisciplinary Maternal Mortality Review Panel (MMRP). Carried out by the Department of Health (DOH), the MMRP is directed by the law to conduct multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in the state to determine if deaths are related to pregnancy, identify factors contributing to those deaths, and make recommendations for systems changes to improve health care services for women. In April 2019, a revised version of the law was passed by Washington State Legislature to make sharing data with the CDC possible. With protections and authorities provided in the revised legislation and state funding, DOH maintains the MMRP and carries out the maternal mortality review through a multi-level process that begins with an annual identification of maternal deaths in the state and ends with the development of recommendations and prevention activities. State funding supports internal staff at DOH who carry out the review, including perinatal clinical experts, maternal/child health and vital statistics epidemiologists, and a program coordinator. The approach outlined by the Building US Capacity to Review and Prevent Maternal Deaths is integrated into the maternal mortality review process, including the adoption of the same definitions, the use of the maternal mortality review database (MMRDS), and the use of the Maternal Mortality Review Information Application (MMRIA) Committee Decisions Form. With this federal funding, over the next five years, we will strengthen and enhance the current maternal mortality review and quality improvement work to implement recommendations made by the MMRP. These efforts will result in timelier and more standardized maternal mortality review and data and increased quality improvement activities to that can add to state and national efforts to understand and reduce preventable maternal morbidity and mortality. We hope to achieve the following outcomes by the end of the five-year performance period: 1. Timely, accurate, and standardized information available about deaths to women during pregnancy and the year after the end of pregnancy 2. Increased awareness of the existence and recommendations of the MMRP among the public, clinicians and policy makers 3. Implementation of data driven recommendations 4. Widespread adoption of patient safety bundles and/or policies that reflect the highest standard of care In addition to meeting the requirements of the grant, we hope to use federal dollars top fund the following specific activities to strengthen our existing maternal mortality review: 1. Enhance the identification of maternal deaths by state vital records (at DOH) through more streamlined linkage processes and an automated system that identifies deaths on a quarterly basis 2. Work with dedicated IT specialists from DOH and the CDC Foundation to integrate MMRIA into our maternal mortality review process and workflow 3. Hire a Maternal Mortality Quality Improvement Coordinator to lead quality improvement initiatives that result from the maternal mortality review and the recommendations made by the MMRP and outreach to key partners for collaboration and support.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).