News Release
Mercy participates in 100,000 Babies Campaign
Nationwide quality initiative aims to improve care of premature babies
June 21, 2010
Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines has joined the efforts of hospitals nationwide by participating in a new Pediatrix Medical Group quality initiative to improve the care provided to more than 100,000 premature babies. The 100,000 Babies Campaign is currently underway at more than 125 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the U.S. by physicians who practice as part of the nation’s largest neonatal physician group—Pediatrix Medical Group. As the first campaign of its kind for neonatal patients, the program aims to improve the outcomes of premature babies on a national scale by using evidence-based practices and procedures in the NICU so that quality improvements become a routine part of everyday care.
Over a three-year period, the campaign seeks to improve the delivery of care provided to more than 100,000 premature babies in NICUs throughout the country. Through this campaign, the team of NICU clinicians at participating hospitals have fully committed to the program’s quality improvement processes that are designed to increase positive outcomes for the premature babies and their families in the Des Moines community.
“We chose to participate in the 100,000 Babies Campaign because the goals of this national initiative are consistent with our own long-standing commitment to quality improvements and providing the best care possible to the premature babies in our community,” said Dan Ellsbury, M.D., neonatologist at Mercy’s Variety Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and part of the Pediatrix team. “Not only does this campaign offer an opportunity to improve the outcomes of our neonatal patients and help ensure that parents are satisfied with the care of their baby, but it also enables us to contribute to raising the standards of care for premature babies throughout the country.”
The 100,000 Babies Campaign is a national clinical quality initiative designed by Pediatrix physicians to help incorporate five critical best practices and procedures used in the NICU with the goal of improving the quality of care and patient outcomes. These areas include:
- Enhancing nutrition: Increasing the use of breast milk for its superior health benefits and protection against many common infections and developmental conditions.
- Improving medication use: Improving the use of certain medications to maximize benefits while decreasing potential adverse effects and interactions.
- Reducing central line infections: Monitoring the use of central lines to reduce the occurrence of infections acquired in the hospital that are associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
- Minimizing mechanical ventilation: Reducing the duration of ventilator use to lower rates of chronic lung disease commonly seen in premature babies.
- Reducing suboptimal admission temperatures: Increasing the body temperature of premature babies to reduce the occurrence of hypothermia and decrease the rate of associated mortality and morbidity.
As a key component of the campaign, physicians and hospitals use Pediatrix’s electronic health record, called BabySteps®, to document the care they provide by electronically capturing a consistent set of information about their patients in each NICU. This documentation of care is stored in a secure database, where patient information is de-identified and used in clinical research and quality programs to assess treatment outcomes. The data collected in the five key areas of clinical focus in the 100,000 Babies Campaign is analyzed and then used to support important quality changes in the delivery of care provided by the hospital’s entire NICU team.
As a result, both physicians and patients benefit from participating in a program that is at the forefront of applying evidence-based medicine to help redesign the delivery of care for premature babies and improve outcomes for the broader neonatal patient population.
About Mercy Medical Center
Mercy Medical Center is a tertiary hospital that includes 802 beds on three campuses. It also serves patients and families through its long-term care facilities, hospice, physician clinics, rehabilitation centers and other services. Mercy provides services and support to a network of critical access hospitals and health care facilities in 18 central Iowa communities, including Des Moines. Mercy is a not-for-profit Catholic organization and is a member of Mercy Health Network and Catholic Health Initiatives.
About Pediatrix
Pediatrix Medical Group is a national medical group that comprises the nation’s leading provider of neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric physician subspecialty services. Physicians and advanced practitioners practicing as part of Pediatrix are reshaping the delivery of care within their specialties and subspecialties, using evidence-based tools, continuous quality initiatives and clinical research to enhance patient outcomes and provide high-quality, cost-effective care. Pediatrix Medical Group was founded in 1979 and now includes neonatal physicians who provide services at more than 275 neonatal intensive care units, who collaborate with affiliated maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric cardiology and pediatric intensivist physician subspecialists to provide a clinical care continuum. Pediatrix is also the nation’s largest provider of newborn hearing screens. Combined, Pediatrix and its affiliated professional corporations employ more than 1,300 neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric subspecialists and 575 advanced practitioners in 33 states and Puerto Rico. Additional information is available at www.pediatrix.com.
Contact Gregg Lagan
Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines
515-247-3050
cell 515-490-6636
