The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program has added a new Maternal Morbidity Structural Measure to begin in fiscal year 2022. Learn more online here.
Within this new measure CMS will be determining which hospitals are actively participating in a structured state or national Perinatal Quality Initiative (QI) Collaborative and if the hospitals are implementing the safety practices or bundles shared within these QI programs.
Enrollment and engagement with WSHA Safe Delivery Roadmap (SDR) program counts toward this measure. SDR program leads Washington birthing hospitals in improvement initiatives. In 2022, the key quality improvement initiative focuses on the implementation of a substance use disorder best practice bundle developed by the Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM), a national program that leads in the development and implementation of best practices to promote safe care for every birth. This member-driven request was also identified as the greatest risk for maternal morbidity within the 2019 Washington State Maternal Mortality report.
CMS has initiated a shortened initial reporting period for this new measure with data collection from Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021. Full year reporting periods will occur thereafter. This initial reporting period will affect payment determination for 2023.
