Sound Off: How Are You Improving Obstetrics Care?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes some of the ways health care professionals are collaborating to improve obstetrics care, thanks in part to grants from the federalAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

According to the article,

Ascension Health

and a team comprising Minneapolis-based

Fairview Health Services

and the University of

Minnesota School of Public Health

have each received grants for about $3 million dollars to develop obstetrics safety programs. Their work is a continuation of a program started in 2008 by the Charlotte, NC alliance of hospitals known as

Premier, Inc

. Studies by Premier found 5 recurring issues responsible for most delivery-related problems: Failure to initiate timely Cesarean section
Failure to recognize an infant in distress
Failure to properly resuscitate a baby
Inappropriate use of labor-inducing drugs
Misuse of vacuums and forceps
 

The work from these groups to combat these issues has led to dramatic declines in birth injuries and deaths. Some of the programs they’ve introduced in hospitals include:

      - Developing packages of procedures that produce the best results
      - Assuring that nurses and technicians will speak up if they think something is wrong
      - Using delivery-room training with robots and video cameras to capture and review each step taken

Considering that in a 2009 Medical Liability Survey

62% of total reported liability claims were for obstetrics care

, how is your hospital or team working to improve obstetrics safety? Which changes will have the biggest impact, and which are a waste of time/money? 

Is there something about the ob/gyn field that really pushes your buttons? If so, we want to hear from you. Send us your

sound offs

.