CDC-RFA-DP22-2207 (Component A)
Texas is among the largest and most demographically diverse states in the U.S. Despite considerable improvement efforts, disparities in perinatal health care and health outcomes continue to persist. For several key perinatal health indicators, particularly maternal mortality, severe maternal morbidity, and infant mortality, persistent racial and ethnic disparities highlight critical targets for improvement. Given the 400,000 births in Texas each year that account for 10% of the nation’s births, eliminating perinatal health disparities will have substantial population-level impact in Texas and the U.S.
The Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB), the state perinatal quality collaborative (PQC), has an important role in advancing efforts to achieve equitable perinatal outcomes in Texas. TCHMB is positioned to support implementation of quality improvement (QI) initiatives through its partnerships with Texas Department of State Health Services and ~230 perinatal hospitals organized across 22 perinatal care regions. This provides a statewide platform for data exchange and dissemination of best practices. However, to have measurable impact on improving perinatal health equitably in our large, diverse state, TCHMB has recognized the need to increase implementation of QI initiatives with an explicit focus on eliminating disparities and to increase statewide reach of these initiatives to ensure engagement of facilities that serve disproportionately impacted populations.
This application to CDC-RFA-DP22-2207 (Component A) leverages our organizational structure, partnerships, and current initiatives to support integration of a health equity framework in the work of TCHMB and build additional capacity to improve equity of health care and health outcomes for mothers and infants in Texas. We will accomplish the goals of our application through the following activities:
• Health equity training for TCHMB staff and executive leadership
• Organizational assessment of TCHMB practices, policies, and partner engagement
• Coaching and strategic planning by an equity advisor to facilitate change
• Peer learning sessions and technical assistance to hospitals with statewide reach
• Collection, analysis, and dissemination of equity-informed QI data
• Cross-state PQC collaboration to share resources and lessons learned
CDC support will provide needed resources to undertake practical and actionable steps towards adopting a health equity framework in the work of the Texas PQC. We expect that these investments in TCHMB will help advance an overall culture of equity in our work and drive change through equity-informed QI approaches to meet current and emerging perinatal health needs in Texas.
