Children's & Women's Hospital launches program to improve maternal health equity
AdaptX's AI-driven software allows clinical leaders to assess, improve and manage care for patients, using real-world data from electronic medical records.
By Casandra Andrews
candrews@health.southalabama.edu
To improve maternal health equity among patients, the women’s services division at USA Health Children's & Women's Hospital launched the use of new software this month known as AdaptX's Obstetrics Advisor, in partnership with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and with support from Merck for Mothers.
AdaptX's AI-driven software allows clinical leaders to assess, improve and manage care for patients, using real-world data from electronic medical records. The goal is for clinicians to quickly diagnose hidden quality issues, including racial and language disparities.
"AdaptX is transforming the way we approach maternal health equity," said Vicki Curtis, M.S.N., RN, RNC-OB, director of women's services for Children's & Women's Hospital. "With self-serve data insights from AdaptX, we are able, for the first time, to rapidly identify and address disparities in care.”
Additionally, Curtis said, “the real-time perspective is helping our team generate awareness, focus, and the hope we need to deliver improvements for our patients."
As part of this innovative maternal health initiative, Children's & Women's Hospital is also receiving change management training and support from IHI's quality improvement experts.
Despite positive strides in many areas of healthcare, the maternal mortality rate continues to rise in the United States and is particularly high in the South. In Alabama, the mortality rate is 36.2 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births, while the U.S. rate is 20.4 for every 100,000, giving Alabama the third-worst rate in the nation, research shows.
In fall 2022, Children’s & Women’s Hospital was accepted into IHI’s Eliminating Inequities and Reducing Postpartum Morbidity and Mortality Learning Community, which spanned January to June 2023. The community brought together five hospitals nationwide to support changes in clinical and administrative processes with the goal of leading to safer and more-equitable postpartum care and support for Black mothers.
Since then, the women’s services team, with support from University of South Alabama colleagues, has launched several projects to raise awareness and help save the lives of those most impacted by maternal health disparities. Among the new initiatives is the launch of the AdaptX enhanced data collection, a medical bracelet program and at-home blood pressure monitoring.
"Maternal health equity reflects IHI's core mission to improve health and healthcare worldwide,” said Pierre M. Barker, M.D., MBChB, chief scientific officer of IHI. “We are excited to partner with USA Health and AdaptX to tackle one of the most egregious examples of health inequity in the U.S. ... I'm hopeful that this partnership and approach will show practical solutions that will close maternal health equity gaps."
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement, an independent not-for-profit organization based in Boston, has for more than 30 years used improvement science to advance and sustain better outcomes in health and health systems around the world.
