The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus Recognized for Higher Quality in Maternity Care
The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) with a Blue Distinction® Centers (BDC) for Maternity Care designation as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. To earn this designation, each facility must deliver quality care, safely and effectively.
“We prioritize the well-being of both mothers and newborns, ensuring a safe and supportive environment. This recognition as a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care recognizes our nurses, support staff and providers’ ongoing focus and commitment to our patients,” said Kristy Blake, director New Life Center. “At St. Francis every expectant mother can trust her journey into motherhood is met with compassionate, expert care and a commitment to the highest quality outcomes.”
The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program plays a key role in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s (BCBSA) National Health Equity Strategy aimed at reducing racial health disparities across the care spectrum and improving patient outcomes for all Americans. To align with this strategy, the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program enhanced its quality and measurement standards to recognize higher-quality facilities that have taken action to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies, reduce racial disparities, and improve maternal health outcomes.
Based on data from the current designation cycle, facilities designated under the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program demonstrate higher-quality care compared to non-Blue Distinction Center facilities, with overall average rates of 26% lower episiotomies, 60% fewer elective deliveries and 17% lower cesarean births—all of which point to healthier outcomes for patients.
"The provider and patient experience is powerful and we are proud that the health system’s St. Francis Campus has put in the work to ensure their patients have this level of care," said Matt All, President/CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. "Each facility recognized as a Blue Distinction Center is meeting rigorous quality metrics in all phases of their maternity care programs and, in doing so, delivering better care for our members and all Kansans.”
The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program’s selection criteria was devised to close clinical care gaps and reduce inequities that persist throughout the maternal care spectrum. The selection criteria includes components of BCBSA’s Maternal Health Equity Actions, which dismantle the cultural, operational and structural barriers that created inequities in maternal care.
To be designated under this program, each applicant facility was evaluated on a combination of objective data on patient outcomes as well as the practices implemented to reduce racial disparities and improve maternal health outcomes, such as:
Using evidence-based best practices to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies
Offering unconscious bias training
Participating in the regional Perinatal Quality Collaborative
Having doula support available on the maternity care team
Collecting race, ethnicity and language data
Having a program dedicated to quality improvements in maternal care
Running drills and simulations to prepare providers are prepared to deal with a range of obstetric emergencies
Demonstrating health outcomes that exceed the selection criteria from our program’s previous evaluation cycle
Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care at lower costs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, cellular immunotherapy, fertility care, gene therapy, knee and hip replacement, maternity care, spine surgery, substance use treatment and recovery, and transplants, while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver.
