tailieunhanh - Improving Maternal and Child Health Outcomes: Family Medicine Obstetrics and the HRSA Perinatal Collaborative Project

While North Carolina still has a long way to go, it is heartening that all of the indicators in the Report Card are being addressed. Through new safety statutes, additional legislative appropriations, and innovative programs introduced by state and local agencies, North Carolina continues to invest in its children. Action for Children North Carolina and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine are pleased to support this effort through the production of study reports and participation in evidence-based decision-making. The North Carolina Institute of Medicine has sponsored task force studies on access to care, adolescent health, prevention and many others. Children are. | I 48 American Journal of Clinical Medicine Spring 2009 Volume Six Number Two Improving Maternal and Child Health Outcomes Family Medicine Obstetrics and the HRSA Perinatal Collaborative Project Mark Loafman MD MPH Ahmed Calvo MD MPH Siu-Hin Wan BS Shuojing Song BS Abstract Maternal and child healthcare is experiencing great challenges as many physicians are becoming increasingly reluctant to serve high-risk populations. From 2004 to 2006 the Health Resources and Services Administration HRSA led a quality improvement effort known as the Perinatal and Patient Safety Pilot Collaborative PPSPC to improve perinatal patient safety and reduce the ethnic disparities in low birth weight and infant mortality focused on the historically under-served and high-risk populations. Constructing individualized health plans require recognition that pregnancy and childbirth are an important part of a continuum of life experiences. A myriad of events and circumstances both prior and subsequent to pregnancy are invariably linked to the eventual outcome for women and their children. Improving efficiency and effectiveness of care requires greater communication among different providers and the various community networks. Greater effort and emphasis must be placed on recruiting and retaining the health profession s workforce and training future family physicians as skilled in providing the full spectrum of maternal child healthcare. Introduction Maternal and child health is a field of care that is experiencing great challenges. There has been a declining interest in recent years in primary care specialties among medical school graduates in the United States. Statistics show that the number of physicians choosing primary care is not concordant with the needs of the general Furthermore an increasing number of family physician graduates have chosen not to practice obstetrics over the past 3 The trend among obstetrician gynecolo-gists is also moving away from providing .