Kentucky Hospital Association and March of Dimes Recognize Flaget Memorial Hospital for an Early Elective Delivery Rate of Three Percent or Less - Archived

Louisville, Ky. (May 5, 2015) — Flaget Memorial Hospital, part of KentuckyOne Health, has received special recognition from the Kentucky Hospital Association and March of Dimes for its work to help families welcome healthy, full term babies.

In 2012, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Partnership for Patients’ Hospital Engagement Network. Through that program, and through a partnership between the Anthem Foundation and the Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Inc. (KIPSQ), a nonprofit subsidiary of the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA), many Kentucky birthing hospitals joined together to reduce non-medically indicated deliveries before 39 weeks.   

Flaget Memorial Hospital participated in both the Kentucky Hospital Engagement Network and the Anthem Foundation “Improving Patient Safety for Mom and Baby” initiatives. Flaget’s work to reduce the number of early elective deliveries (inductions) and cesarean deliveries actually began several years ago, and their involvement in these most recent projects further enhanced their strong position of leadership in this area.   March of Dimes commented that babies born full-term have a healthier start in life.

“We are proud of our expert team of physicians and nurses who recognized the importance of babies being born full term and put in place policies to avoid scheduling elective inductions or cesarean deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy, except when medically necessary,” said Sue Downs, president of Flaget Memorial Hospital.   “This expert team of physicians includes Amy Farrell, MD, and Hannah Hall, MD, with KentuckyOne Health Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates.  Drs. Farrell and Hall shared a unified vision for delivering full term babies and dedicated themselves to successfully achieving that goal.”  
 
“Taking care of mothers and welcoming full term, healthy babies is our goal every day. We are proud of this recognition from the Kentucky Hospital Association and the March of Dimes,” said Dr. Farrell.

“We want only the best for our families. In addition to working to ensure babies are born full term, we offer a variety of educational opportunities for expectant parents to help them prepare for childbirth, parenting and more,” said Dr. Hall.

“The last weeks of pregnancy are important. Babies aren’t just putting on weight.  They are undergoing important development of the brain, lungs and other vital organs,” said Norma Goss, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer for Flaget Memorial Hospital.   

“Babies who survive an early birth often face the risk of lifelong health challenges, such as breathing problems, learning disabilities and others. Even babies born just a few weeks early have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than full-term infants. I commend Flaget Memorial Hospital for being a champion for babies with their quality improvement effort. Although the goal for this project was three percent or less, the obstetrical team at Flaget has maintained a rate of zero through the entire Hospital Engagement Network project, placing them in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide in this effort,” said Donna Meador, the KHA Director of Quality and Patient Safety.  

“Kentucky hospitals are steadfast in their ongoing patient safety and quality improvement efforts.   Every year, our 46 birthing hospitals welcome 53,000 babies into the world and we want these newest citizens to have the healthiest start possible in life.  Also, as a result of the help we received from the Anthem Foundation, we are now able to use mass media to encourage conversations around breastfeeding before the baby is born,” said Michael T. Rust, president of the Kentucky Hospital Association.

About the Kentucky Hospital Association
The Kentucky Hospital Association was established in 1929 and is a not-for-profit organization of which all Kentucky hospitals are members. The Association represents and facilitates collaborative efforts among Kentucky hospitals and is the source for strategic information about the constantly changing health care environment. KHA is a membership-driven organization that provides proactive leadership to create an environment in which Kentucky hospitals are successful in serving their communities. For more information, go to www.kyha.com

About KIPSQ
The Kentucky Institute for Patient Safety and Quality is a non-profit subsidiary of KHA focusing on the statewide collection and analysis of adverse patient event data from health care providers and the dissemination of recommendations for improvement in care delivery.  Based in Louisville, the mission of the federally-certified patient safety organization (PSO) is to improve health care quality and patient safety and provide a learning environment for persons engaged in the delivery of health care services.   For more information, visit www.kipsq.org

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM® is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.  Additional information about Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky is available at www.anthem.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/healthjoinin, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HealthJoinIn or visit our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/healthjoinin.

About the Anthem Foundation
The Anthem Foundation, Inc. is a private, non-profit foundation. Through charitable contributions and programs, the Foundation promotes Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities in Kentucky. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long-term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s annual associate giving campaign and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates’ campaign pledges. ANTHEM® is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.  For more information, go to www.anthem.com

About the March of Dimes
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
In 2007, The Kentucky Chapter began a comprehensive pilot program entitled Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait® (HBWW) in partnership with the Kentucky Department for Public Health and Johnson & Johnson.  HBWW, now a nationwide effort, addresses the growing problem of premature birth. Kentucky’s preterm birth rate was 11.4 percent in 2014, down from 15.1% in 2006, the year the national rate peaked.  Kentucky again earned a “C” on the March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card.
Find out how you can help raise funds to prevent premature birth and birth defects by walking in March for Babies at marchforbabies.org.  For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.org or nacersano.org.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit www.marchofdimes.com/39weeks