Detroit Evening Report: MDHHS to issue maternal health quality payments to hospitals

Some hospitals working to improve care to pregnant women will begin getting money from the state this fall.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will fund hospital birthing units that participate in two programs.

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The Michigan Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health works with hospitals to implement practices to decrease the number of preventable deaths for pregnant women in the state and to improve quality of care during and after delivery. The Joint Commission on Maternal Levels of Care Verification Program does an independent external evaluation of a hospital’s maternal healthcare practices and resources.

Hospitals participating in both programs will get a payment from the state in September and reimbursement for costs related to participation. MDHHS says its goal is to eliminate preventable deaths and health disparities during pregnancy.

“Supporting Michigan birthing hospitals is critical as we work to save lives during pregnancy and the postpartum period,” said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel in a news release. “MDHHS’ strategic vision seeks to achieve zero preventable deaths and zero health disparities. This innovative program supports that goal through hospital implementation of patient safety bundles and risk-appropriate care for pregnant and postpartum people.”

The state says 172 women died of pregnancy-related causes between 2011 and 2020; and 100 of every 10,000 hospital deliveries resulted in death in 2021. Black women were more than twice as likely to die during pregnancy than white women. 

Birthing hospitals interested in learning more about both programs can visit MI AIM’s Maternal Levels of Care website or The Joint Commission’s Maternal Levels of Care Verification website.

Other headlines for Tuesday, April 23, 2024:

• April 27 is National Drug Takeback Day, during which organizations across the country provide a safe and easy way for people to dispose of prescription drugs in an effort to prevent addiction and misuse. 
• The Pensole Lewis College – Michigan’s only Historically Black College, and the only one focused on design – is working with the NFL to showcase the work of local artists during this week’s draft events.
• Attorney General Dana Nessel is warning those planning to attend the NFL Draft Experience downtown to be on the look out for parking scams.
• The Jewish Historical Society has opened an exhibit running through July 14 at the Detroit Historical Museum, “In the Neighborhood: Everyday Life on Hastings Street,” examining the lives of Jews who lived in Detroit’s first Jewish enclave in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

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