Quality Improvement
TeamBirth NJ
Communication failures are among the most frequently cited root causes in maternal mortality and morbidity reviews. To improve poor maternal and infant outcomes and inequities that are the result of breakdowns in teamwork and communication in the delivery system, the Quality Institute has partnered with Ariadne Labs to implement their shared decision-making initiative, TeamBirth, in New Jersey.
Shared decision-making models have demonstrated benefits in obstetrical care by improving patient education, satisfaction, perception of choice, and decreased conflict and anxiety around decision making. Despite this evidence, it is not reliably implemented in most settings. Elevating patient voices and empowering shared decision-making is key to providing safer care.
TeamBirth Description
TeamBirth is a care process innovation involving a series of team huddles between the patient and their care team, designed to empower each team member to contribute information, reliably structure communication, and help the team arrive at shared plans together. It focuses on eliciting the patient’s preferences, symptoms, and subjective experiences and integrates this with clinical data to inform patient care plans and promote safe, dignified childbirth care for every patient.
For more information about TeamBirth, please contact: Adelisa Perez-Hudgins, Director of Quality, at aperez@njhcqi.org.
NJ TeamBirth Hospitals and Birth Centers
By the end of 2023, TeamBirth will be implemented in over 90 hospitals and birth centers across the country, reaching over 400,000 births. In NJ, birthing facilities that have implemented TeamBirth include:
Mary V. O’Shea Birth Center*
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital*
RWJBarnabas Health Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center
RWJBarnabas Health Monmouth Medical Center
Saint Peter’s University Hospital*
Virtua Mount Holly Hospital*
Virtua Voorhees Hospital
Virtua Health Midwifery Birth and Wellness Center
*Tentative go live date: Fall 2023.
The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group is an employer-based coalition advocating for improved transparency, quality, and safety in hospitals. Leapfrog works with its employer members to encourage transparency and easy access to health care information as well as rewards for hospitals that have a proven record of high quality care.
We are the Regional Leader of the Hospital and Ambulatory Surgery Center Survey in New Jersey and New York and are proud to work with our members to promote transparency in quality measures.
National Quality Forum
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization that works to catalyze improvements in healthcare. Quality Institute President and CEO, Linda Schwimmer, is a longstanding member of NQF having previously served on their board and as Chair of the Consensus Standards Approval Committee, which is responsible for the endorsement of quality measures. She is actively engaged in the Geriatric and Palliative Care Committee.
Quality Briefings
The Quality Institute releases regular Quality Briefings to share relevant data sets that can inform quality improvement work. Quality improvement data can be used by employers, purchasers, payers, and patients to help inform decisions about where to seek care, leverage purchasing power, and increase transparency.