Leslie K. Horna
Public Relations, HealthONE
303.584.6100 | c. 303.523.1978
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2012

Safe Haven: Healthy Pregnancies at HealthONE^® Hospitals
Quality measures announced on hospital obstetric deliveries

HCA-HealthONE® LLC announces today hospital performance data regarding obstetric deliveries in conjunction with The Leapfrog Group’s report, Too Early Deliveries. HealthONE hospitals not only meet, but positively exceed standards outlined by hospital-quality watchdog, The Leapfrog Group.

Leapfrog’s Too Early Deliveries report evaluates rates of early elective deliveries with the target being less than 5% for hospitals nation-wide. The current Leapfrog report reflects 2010 quality measurements which show great improvement for the HealthONE Women’s Care network—The Medical Center of Aurora; North Suburban Medical Center; Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center; Rose Medical Center; Sky Ridge Medical Center and Swedish Medical Center. Rates vary among each HealthONE hospital with North Suburban Medical Center at 2% out of the 5% target.

The HealthONE Women’s Care network encourages women to speak with their OB/GYN physicians about baby delivery quality rankings when considering having a baby or preparing for their baby’s birth. HealthONE encourages employed and affiliated physicians to discuss rates of elective deliveries for each hospital and ensure patients know the risk mothers and babies have if births are scheduled before 39 weeks for nonmedical reasons. HealthONE also supports our OB/GYN physicians’ adherence to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines to perform an ultrasound on expectant mothers before the 20th week of pregnancy.

“This data is important for not only expectant families who seek our care, but for all members of the Denver metro community visiting our hospitals,” said Lindy Garvin, Vice President of Quality, HCA-HealthONE Continental Division. “We believe healthy babies are worth the wait. Babies delivered prior to 39 weeks have a much higher risk of developing serious medical conditions,” Garvin continued.

Babies that are electively scheduled for delivery too early in the pregnancy can result in a higher likelihood of death, admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), or life-long health problems. Leapfrog states, “Experts, including those from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Childbirth Connection, and the March of Dimes, caution that the amount of time a baby needs to develop fully, which includes having a fully developed brain and other organs, is at least 39 completed weeks.”

Sometimes there is a medical reason to deliver a newborn baby before the 39th week. HealthONE policy does not allow any baby deliveries less than 39 weeks without approval from the Obstetrics Department Chair at the birthing hospital. The circumstances in which approval may be given are solely based on medical need. Some of those medical reasons include: spontaneous labor after 37 weeks of gestation with delivery by cesarean section; personal history of gestational diabetes; pregnancy with history of ectopic pregnancy; and pregnancy with inconclusive fetal viability.

HealthONE hospitals developed policies and scheduling procedures in to prevent elective delivery of babies less than 39 weeks gestation. HealthONE’s efforts throughout 2010 and 2011 have resulted in significant declines in the number of elective deliveries in 2011. Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, President, Clinical and Physician Services Group and Chief Medical Officer, recently told the Wall Street Journal in an interview, "In the face of new and compelling data that there should be no elective deliveries before 39 weeks, there is very little rational basis to act differently."

Reporting for Leapfrog also includes episiotomy, preventative DVT care, Kernicterus prevention and education for newborns. HealthONE hospitals have standardized protocols and educational procedures in place for nurses and physicians to properly treat and inform patients with high-risk procedures and medications. Some of the tools in place include OB Airstrip, which allows doctors to monitor fetal and maternal conditions remotely from their mobile device in early stages of labor; and frequent fetal monitoring training with physicians and nurses.

HealthONE has a Task Force on Perinatal Care and also collaborates with local organizations like the March of Dimes to assist in measuring, researching and communicating the lowering rates for elective deliveries. Reducing early elective births is a priority for HealthONE parent, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), as well with initiatives on research, perinatal best practices and physician, staff and patient education.

“Since developing and implementing these policies and procedures in 2010, we have seen significant decline in the number of elective deliveries of babies less than 39 weeks,” said Garvin. “As evidenced by these resource tools, procedural guidelines, and nurse/physician education, HealthONE Women’s Care Network continues to see considerable improvements in providing safe care for our patients.”

This data on early elective deliveries come from Leapfrog’s 2011 annual hospital survey of 2010 data, where hospitals are asked to report the percentage of non-medically indicated births between 37 and 39 completed weeks gestation delivered electively by induction or by cesarean section before the mother has gone into active labor or has experienced spontaneous rupture of membranes. Hospital rates of elective deliveries are now available for viewing on a special website: http://www.leapfroggroup.org/for_consumers/tooearlydeliveries.

For more information on HealthONE Obstetrics, visit HealthONEwomensCare.com.

About HealthONE: HealthONE is the largest health care system in the metro Denver area with more than 9,000 employees and 3,000 affiliated physicians. HealthONE hospitals have a long and trusted legacy going back more than 130 years with St. Luke’s, more than 85 years with Presbyterian Denver, more than 105 years with Swedish and more than 60 years with Rose. The current health system was created in 1995 as a Colorado company and a joint venture between The Colorado Health Foundation and various affiliates of HCA. The Foundation grew to the second largest charitable foundation in the state and in October 2011 sold its share in HealthONE to HCA (NYSE: HCA).

HealthONE includes: The Medical Center of Aurora; North Suburban Medical Center; Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center & Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children; Rose Medical Center; Sky Ridge Medical Center; Swedish Medical Center; Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital; Centennial Medical Plaza (affiliated with The Medical Center of Aurora); Swedish Southwest ER (affiliated with Swedish Medical Center); 14 stand-alone ambulatory surgery centers; 8 occupational medicine & rehabilitation clinics; dozens of specialty clinics; two radiation oncology centers; and AIRLIFE-DENVER, which provides critical care air and ground transportation across an eight-state region.

HealthONE Women’s Care: Reduction Early Elective Deliveries