Two physicians with Ascension Texas recently talked about the success of an effort to make hospitals safer for women giving birth in the state.
Amy Papst, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, and Jeny Ghartey, DO, Maternal Medical Director at the hospital, discussed the hospital’s successful participation in TexasAIM, an effort to improve maternal healthcare. TexasAIM is a collaboration of the Department of State Health Services and Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health.
As reported by KUT, participating hospitals have seen success with the implementation of checklists and protocols, along with increased communication between participating hospitals.
Ascension Seton Medical Center delivers about 4,800 babies a year. “We deliver the most babies and we are the biggest hospital” in Austin, Dr. Papst said, “and we wanted to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with childbirth.”
Hospitals are one important part of the larger effort. Out of about 225 hospitals in the state with obstetric services, almost all have joined TexasAIM.
Dr. Ghartey said a big change has been in how doctors screen for hemorrhage, or significant blood loss, after a delivery. Rather than estimating blood loss, as in the past, staff take steps during every vaginal delivery to figure out “quantitative blood loss” – calculating how much blood the woman has lost.
This and other changes in checklists and protocols have reduced the differences in care from patient to patient.
“Reducing the variability … leads to better outcomes,” Dr. Papst said. “We have a ton of data that proves that.”
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Photo: Drs. Amy Papst, left, and Jeny Ghartey say Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin felt compelled to join TexasAIM to improve maternal health. (Photo courtesy Julia Reihs/KUT)
