Stakeholder Workgroup Reports and Recommendations

Role of stakeholder workgroups in Transforming Maternity Care project

Convening stakeholder workgroups

• consumers and their advocates
• health plans, public and private purchaser, liability insurers
• hospitals, health systems and other care delivery models
• maternity care clinicians and health professions educators
• quality and measurement experts

Developing stakeholder workgroup reports

Who needs to do what, to, for and with whom over the next five years to move most expeditiously toward the system of care envisioned in the "2020 Vision" paper.

Both the project's initial key informant interviews (PDF) with national health care quality improvement leaders and innovators and its Steering Committee (PDF) explored priority areas for innovation and policy focus for achieving greatest strides in quality improvement. As a result, the Steering Committee recommended that all workgroups address in reports and recommendations four common areas:

• performance measurement and leveraging of results
• payment reform to align incentives with quality
• disparities in access and outcomes of maternity care
• improved functioning of the liability system

• scope of covered services for maternity care
• coordination of maternity care across time, settings, and disciplines
• clinical controversies (home birth, vaginal birth after cesarean, vaginal breech and twin birth, elective induction, cesarean without indication)
• decision making and consumer choice
• scope, content and availability of health professions education
• workforce composition and distribution
• development and use of health information technology
• priority research topics to address knowledge gaps about safe and effective care.

To share and refine documents, workgroups had access to the project's SharePoint website. One section of the website made available to all workgroup members reports and articles in the topical areas listed above to assist members with developing their reports and recommendations and help align this work with ongoing health care reform efforts. A bibliography of those resources for workgroups (PDF) is available here.

At an invitational multi-stakeholder policy symposium in Washington DC in April 2009 to commemorate Childbirth Connection's 90th anniversary, workgroup chairs presented their groups' reports, and invited discussants and audience members provided feedback to strengthen the analysis and recommendations. To benefit from the engagement and expertise of the large, diverse, experienced group of symposium participants, attendees received full confidential drafts of the workgroup papers prior to the meeting, and had the opportunity during a continuing comment period after the meeting to submit feedback through an online process.

Workgroups used the compiled symposium and post-symposium feedback to finalize their reports, and the Steering Committee synthesized the workgroup reports and collected feedback into the direction-setting "Blueprint for Action." Workgroup reports are available in full on this website, and the "2020 Vision," "Blueprint for Action," and companion documents have been published in a special Transforming Maternity Care issue of Women's Health Issues (January 2010).

Access to stakeholder workgroup reports

• Consumers and their Advocates Workgroup Report (PDF)
• Health Plans, Purchasers and Liability Insurers Workgroup Report (PDF)
• Hospitals, Health Systems and Other Care Delivery Systems Workgroup Report (PDF)
• Maternity Care Clinicians and Health Professions Educators Workgroup Report (PDF)
• Measurement and Quality Research Experts Workgroup (PDF)

The reports are rich, insightful and lengthy. They offer a greater level of detail about specific challenges and recommended solutions than the "Blueprint for Action." Thus, those who are interested in learning more and are considering becoming involved with implementation of Blueprint recommendations are urged to consult the workgroup reports.

Childbirth Connection expresses its appreciation to members of the five stakeholder workgroups for their exceptional contributions to the Transforming Maternity Care project.