New program helps reduce geographic and ethnic maternal disparities throughout the county

LOS ANGELES — A new program at L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan with more than two million members, is improving member care by significantly increasing postpartum patient follow-up visits.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as many as 40 percent of women do not attend a postpartum visit. Active engagement in patient-centered, maternal postpartum care has the potential to improve outcomes for women, infants, and families, and support ongoing health and well-being. 

As safety net champions of health information technology (HIT), L.A. Care’s HIT and Health Education departments launched a new program to help reduce geographic and ethnic maternal disparities throughout Los Angeles County. 

At the outset, L.A. Care’s Health Education department was managing the Healthy Mom Program, an outreach initiative targeting members who had recently given birth. The program was looking for ways to access maternity data for better patient communication.

Simultaneously, L.A. Care’s eConnect Program in the HIT department was improving care coordination for members by allowing hospitals and the health plan to securely share patient information for ease and efficiency of care. The natural synergy of this work allowed L.A. Care to leverage this shared data, ensuring postpartum members were aware of appointments and receiving the care they needed. 

“The results of this new program have been impressive. A 330 percent increase in identified members can now be contacted to encourage and facilitate postpartum visits,” said L.A. Care Chief Medical Officer Richard Seidman, MD, MPH. “In addition, L.A. Care now has the ability to share such data with Plan Partners and contracted provider groups to support similar efforts to improve patient care and quality scores across Los Angeles County.”  

Learn more about the Healthy Mom Program and other efforts of the L.A. Care Health Education Department.

To learn more about eConnect, please contact the L.A. Care HITEC-LA department.