The Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia sponsored the second annual “Quality Improvement Initiatives in Obstetrical Care” forum on March 5, 2011. This meeting was made possible from a generous grant by Dolores Smith of the March of Dimes. This forum was a follow up from last years successful initial program that highlighted eleven institutions from all over the state presenting innovative Quality Initiatives. This year’s program focused on data and outcomes. There were presentations from 8 institutions who had presented last year as well as a stimulating presentation from Geisinger on “Process Redesign and Outcomes in Ob Care”. Once again the program was at the Zubrow Auditorium in Pennsylvania Hospital.
Ob Society President Susan Kaufman introduced the conference. Co-chairs of the conference Arnie Cohen and Harish Sehdev then led the discussions by the presenting institutions: Abington Memorial Hospital, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Christiana Hospital, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley Hospital, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Reading Hospital and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
The meeting allowed each of the institutions to present their data related to the Quality Initiatives that they had presented the year before. The data was impressive. Each institution evaluated what they had done and how what they had done affected care. Some of the data supported the benefits of the initiative, while others showed the initiative may not have fully accomplished their goals. We had examples of where initiatives had to be redesigned during the process based on the data not confirming what they had originally intended to happen, happening. There were examples of success, as well as not succeeding, but all tried to improve based on their ongoing data collection. The areas presented were
- Oxytocin Safety – Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Reading Hospital
- Obstetrical Emergency Response Team - Christiana Hospital, Lehigh Valley Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
- EMR and Quality – Albert Einstein Medical Center
- Labor Induction – Penn State Hershey Medical Center
- Simulations – Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
- Shoulder Dystocia – Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Geisinger Health System presented “Process Redesign and Outcomes in Ob Care”, a program in which systems and people came together throughout to improve the outcomes of obstetrical care. This was truly a comprehensive and impressive presentation of how leadership in healthcare can work with all elements of care to accomplish what we all would love to do, improve outcomes.
Each presentations was followed by Q&A that allowed for an interchange of ideas and interaction with the over 60 people who attended the meeting. Attendees included Ob/Gyns, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Chief Quality Officers, Quality Assurance doctors and nurses and Department Chairs, all of whom wanted to improve the care given to obstetrical patients.
All who attended felt the meeting accomplished its goals of “bringing people together” and discussing the data on how to improve care. We all look forward to this annual event of sharing Quality Initiatives and how we can improve care.
