• Applicant Organization Name: The Iowa Department of Public Health
• Address: Lucas State Office Building, 321 E. 12th Street, Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
• Project Director Name: Stephanie Trusty RN, BSN
• Contact Phone Numbers: office telephone (515) 418-7604; fax (515) 725-1760
• Email Address: stephanie.trusty@idph.iowa.gov
• Co-Principal Investigators: Stephanie Radke MD, FACOG and Julie B Lindower MD, MPH
• Contact Phone Numbers: Dr. Radke (319)384-8763: Dr. Lindower (319) 356-3637
• Email Address: stephanie-radke@uiowa.edu and julie-lindower@uiowa.edu
• Application for Component A, funds requested in the application: $1,375,000 total, average one year award $275,000.
• Project Period: Five years - FFY 2023 through FFY 2027.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is applying for Component A of CDC-RFA-DP22-2207. Perinatal Quality Collaboratives are networks of teams working to improve measurable outcomes for maternal and infant health. Working together using evidence-informed clinical practice and processes, and using quality improvement (QI) principles, perinatal outcomes can rapidly improve. Using the collaborative learning model our QI work will partner with birthing hospitals, and include clinics or health care systems in the future. Iowa’s Statewide PQC will spread best practices, reduce variation in care, and close the gaps in health equity by use of rapid-response data to track outcomes. Working together with clinical teams, experts, stakeholders including patient and families we will improve population–level outcomes in maternal and infant health. The Iowa Department of Public Health plans to partner with the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to support and increase the state capacity to rapidly conduct perinatal QI initiatives.
Iowa currently has two separate quality collaboratives addressing perinatal health. The Iowa Neonatal Quality Collaborative (INQC) was established in 2016 to optimize the care and outcomes for newborns and infants in the state of Iowa. Neonatologists, neonatal nurse practitioners, nurses, NICU leadership team members, and administrators gathered from Iowa’s tertiary and high-risk NICUs across the state to establish the groundwork for this collaborative. The goal of the INQC is to disseminate evidence-based information to providers and nurseries across the state to support the highest level of care and quality improvement.
The Iowa Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (IMQCC) was officially convened in 2020 with a stakeholder board including broad representation of state chapters of relevant professional organizations, public health agencies, payors, and community partners. The vision of the IMQCC is for all Iowans to experience care that is safe, respectful, and accessible. The initial, and primary, activity of the IMQCC is to coordinate Iowa’s participation in the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Program (AIM).
While both the IMQCC and INQC have experienced initial success in their improvement collaboratives, the leadership of both groups agree that partnership is the logical next step. The IMQCC and INQC desire to partner in formation of a unified Iowa Perinatal Quality Collaborative (IPQC), and if awarded will utilize grant funds to implement neonatal and maternal quality improvement initiatives as a single entity. This will provide an efficient structure to expand support of hospital-based QI collaboratives, as well as opportunity to explore outpatient clinical-community linkages with a life course approach to perinatal and family health in Iowa.