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SWMC Designated Blue Distinction Center For Maternity Care

Joe Denoyer - February 28, 2018 11:13 am

·         Provided by Southwest Medical Center

 

     In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality, affordable maternity care, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas announced Southwest Medical Center has been re-designated as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care.

     Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated hospitals that show expertise in delivering improved patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community. The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on quality measures for vaginal and cesarean delivery. To receive a Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care designation, a hospital must also meet requirements for cost efficiency.

     “The team at Southwest Medical Center is focused on delivering the best quality of care for our patients,” Southwest Medical Center President and CEO, Bill Ermann, said. “We have a caring community of providers and team members who commit themselves to the highest standards in medicine not only for maternity care, but across all the services we provide. This designation is a wonderful recognition of the efforts our team has put into providing quality healthcare close to home in Southwest Kansas.”

     “Today there is much talk about ‘quality’ in health care and the role quality plays in overall outcomes, patient experience and costs,” said Andrew C. Corbin, BCBSKS president/CEO. “Southwest Medical Center is doing more than talking about quality. They are putting quality into action by meeting rigorous quality metrics in all phases of their maternity care program and, in doing so, deliver better care for our members. That is why we are proud to recognize Southwest Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care.”

     Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization, and cesarean sections the most common operating room procedure, according to National Centers for Health Statistics and the Agency for Health Care Research & Quality (AHRQ). Reducing early elective delivery is an area of focus for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). According to Health Affairs, elective inductions result in more cesarean deliveries and a longer maternal hospitalization.

     Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, maternity care, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants, while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver. Research shows that, compared to other hospitals, those designated as Blue Distinction Centers demonstrate better quality and improved outcomes for patients. On average, Blue Distinction Centers+ also are 20 percent more cost-efficient than non-Blue Distinction Center+ designated hospitals.

     For more information about the program, please visit bcbs.com/bluedistinction.

 

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