Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center Recognized for Higher Quality in Maternity Care

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb., ? Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) with a Blue Distinction® Centers (BDC) for Maternity Care designation as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. To earn this designation, each facility must deliver quality care, safely and effectively.

The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program plays a key role in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s (BCBSA) National Health Equity Strategy aimed at reducing racial health disparities across the care spectrum and improving patient outcomes for all Americans. To align with this strategy, the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program enhanced its quality and measurement standards to recognize higher-quality facilities that have taken action to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies, reduce racial disparities, and improve maternal health outcomes.

Based on data from the current designation cycle, facilities designated under the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program demonstrate higher quality care compared to non-Blue Distinction Center facilities, with overall average rates of 26% lower episiotomies; 60% fewer elective deliveries; and 17% lower cesarean births—all of which point to healthier outcomes for patients.

“We are thrilled to receive another two-year designation as a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care,” said Kynzie Lentfer, BSN, RN, CLC, director of Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center. “This designation helps show our commitment to providing excellent care for our maternity patients.”

The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program’s selection criteria was devised to close clinical care gaps and reduce inequities that persist throughout the maternal care spectrum. The selection criteria includes components of BCBSA’s Maternal Health Equity Actions, which dismantle the cultural, operational, and structural barriers that created inequities in maternal care.

To be designated under this program, each applicant facility was evaluated on a combination of objective data on patient outcomes as well as the practices implemented to reduce racial disparities and improve maternal health outcomes, such as:

• Using evidence-based best practices to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies
• Offering unconscious bias training
• Participating in the regional Perinatal Quality Collaborative
• Having doula support available on the maternity care team
• Collecting race, ethnicity, and language data
• Having a program dedicated to quality improvements in maternal care
• Running drills and simulations so providers are prepared to deal with a range of obstetric emergencies
• Demonstrating health outcomes that exceed the selection criteria for our program’s previous evaluation cycle

Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska (BCBSNE) for meeting the rigorous quality selection criteria for maternity care set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.

“We’re proud to work with providers like the Birth and Infant Care Center,” Dr. Josette Gordon-Simet, chief medical officer at BCBSNE, said. “Each year, we strive to create better relationships with our providers who, in turn, create better care and treatment experiences for our members. Regional West has dedicated time and resources towards developing training, drills and upgrades to improve their maternal health outcomes. This distinction shows just how hard our providers work to meet not only our standards, but the standards of our members.”

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care at lower costs in the areas of bariatric surgery; cancer care; cardiac care; cellular immunotherapy; fertility care; gene therapy; knee and hip replacement; maternity care; spine surgery; substance use treatment; and recovery and transplants, while encouraging healthcare professionals to improve the care they deliver.

For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated providers, visit Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Blue Distinction Center website.

To learn more about Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center, visit RWHS.org or call 308-630-1550.