Continuous Improvement and the Expansion of Quality ... - NCQA

T H E S TAT E o f H E A l T H C A R E Q U A l I T y 2 0 1 1 • H E D I S M E A S U R E S o f C A R E
PRENATAl AND PoSTPARTUM CARE &
fREQUENCy of oNGoING PRENATAl CARE
Among the 4.3 million deliveries in 2008, 94 percent listed some type of pregnancy
complication. 1,2 Each year, more than 500,000 pregnant women across the U.S. deliver babies
with potentially avoidable complications such as preterm birth, low birthweight and pre-eclampsia. 2
The Prenatal and Postpartum Care and Frequency of Ongoing Prenatal Care measures assess
whether women have access to timely and consistent prenatal and postpartum care.
• Diabetes, hypertension and postpartum
depression are the most commonly reported
health conditions among pregnant women. 3
• Prenatal care during the first trimester
helps to improve maternal health and
survival, and results in improved infant
survival by linking women who have highrisk
pregnancies to better obstetrical and
neonatal care. 3
• Postpartum care encompasses management
of the mother and the newborn infant
and is aimed at detecting early parenting
problems and performing physical exams
and postpartum depression screenings. 4
the Case for Improvement
• Hospital stays with pregnancy-related
complications tended to be longer
(2.7–2.9 days) than without complicating
conditions (1.9 days). Maternal stays with
complicating conditions were also about
50 percent more costly ($8,000) than
those without complications ($2,600). In
2008, maternal stays with pregnancy and
delivery-related complications accounted
77
for $17.4 billion, or nearly 5 percent of
total hospital costs in the U.S. 1
• Women who failed to receive prenatal care
were almost three times more likely to have
a low-birthweight infant than women who
had care, resulting in expected hospital
cost savings of more than $1,000 for
women who received prenatal care. 5
• Women who receive only the minimal
amount of prenatal care are at high risk
for pregnancy complication and negative
birth outcomes. 8,10 More than 11 percent
of pregnant women receive inadequate
prenatal care each year. 9
• Early, comprehensive and continuous
prenatal and postpartum care can promote
healthier pregnancies and reduce the
risk of costly, adverse birth outcomes and
postpartum depression. 6,7
M E A S U R E S T A R G E T E D A T C H I l D R E N A N D A D o l E S C E N T S