The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative Conference presented its fourth annual conference on April 23 and 24, 2015 in Tampa, FL, attracting more than 230 attendees from all over the state from a variety of disciplines. The FPQC received overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Fourth Annual Conference. Several participants have expressed a new motivation to implement QI projects in their units and get involved more with the FPQC. Click here to read more...

Teams from Florida hospitals attended a 2-day TeamSTEPPS Master Training in Hollywood in March 2015 hosted by the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative and the March of Dimes.  Click here to read more...

Apply for a 2015 Banner!  Hospitals will need to submit PC-01 data for the two most recent quarters. Hospitals that received a banner over one year ago may submit for a 2015 banner. 

Download the application and view the list of Recognized Banner Hospitals here.

Announcements will be sent via the FPQC Mailing List.

A new March of Dimes Big 5 State Perinatal Collaborative quality improvement initiative on Antenatal Steroids is about to begin recruitment!

This project will focus on improving administration of antenatal corticosteroids during the optimal time period before delivery, and will Kick-off in Fall of this year. Click here for more information.

FPQC's Hypertension in Pregnancy Initiative will focus on reducing maternal morbidity and mortality by improving recognition, readiness, and response to hypertension. Recruitment will begin this summer and the 18-month project will launch in Fall of this year. Click here for more information.

OHI’s Round 1 was successful in hospitals improving quality practices. Florida hospitals that missed the first round are invited to participate in a second round of hospital driven OHI with support from the FPQC. Recruitment: Summer 2015. Click here for more information.

Breast milk is the optimal source of nutrition for babies, especially those under 1,500 grams at birth. However, only 45.7% of infants cared for in Florida NICUs in 2013 received any breast milk through discharge.

FPQC proposes an evidence-based statewide NICU quality improvement initiative to determine and remove barriers to human milk use for these at-risk infants. This project is still in planning mode; recruitment of NICUs will be announced via FPQC e-mail. 

The FPQC has successfully completed its initial Indicator System pilot project with the support of stakeholders from 7 hospitals, 8 state organizations, and funding from the March of Dimes. The pilot developed 5 quality indicators, several data quality indicators, and is in the process of developing several more indicators. This coming fall, the FPQC will recruit delivery hospitals throughout Florida who would like to participate in the new FPQC Perinatal Quality Indicator System and receive their own hospital-level data on quarterly basis.  More information on how to apply will be forthcoming.

Golden Hour is now in the sustainability phase, which will be complete in December 2015. 

More information is available at the Golden Hour site.

Participating hospitals are assessing ~81% of women for risk of obstetric hemorrhage prior to delivery, and quantification of blood loss is up to >52% of vaginal deliveries and >56% of cesarean deliveries. 

Round 1 of the OHI ends in June, though sites are encouraged to continue to institutionalize changes and track their progress.

More information is available at the OHI website.

The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative had the opportunity to recognize some of our exceptional community partners at a “Community Partners Celebration,” part of the University of South Florida College of Public Health’s 30th Anniversary events. Click here to read more...

Karen Harris, MD, MPH

Karen Harris is Chair-Elect of American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) District XII (Florida), and serves as a Steering Committee member for the Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative, Program Service Committee Chair for the Florida Chapter of March of Dimes, and a returning member of the Pregnancy Associated Maternal Mortality Review Committee. In addition, she serves on the ACOG Task Force for Maternal Mortality Reduction nationally.

Raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Karen Harris graduated from Vassar College in New York with a BA in Biology with Honors. She received her medical degree from the University of Florida, and married a Gainesville native during her second year of her Ob/Gyn residency at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Upon completion in 1989, she returned to Gainesville to begin private practice with North Florida Women’s Physicians where she has been for 26 years. She was the managing partner of the 10 physician group for 13 years. She became involved in the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society in 1993, becoming its first woman President in 2001. In addition, she has been President of the Alachua County Medical Society, involved in the Florida Medical Association, and was on the perinatal quality committee of a national hospital chain. She returned to University of Florida to further her education in women’s health care policy, and received her Masters in Public Health in December 2011.

Dr. Harris has 2 young adults, Sarah and Wesley, who are both in college in Massachusetts, and she has been married for nearly 28 years. In her spare time, she is involved in the Girls Scouts as a coach of other leaders and is the cookie mom for the 6 Troops at her church. She enjoys gardening, boating and exercising.

Florida perinatal and childbirth professionals are invited to participate in a Birth Defects Surveillance Program research study "Family-Centered Management of Birth Defects Diagnosis and Referral in Hospital Settings".

This 10-15 minute questionnaire is designed to help us better understand current practices in providing information, support and referral to parents of infants born with birth defects in birth hospitals and to identify the strengths, gaps and best practices in systems of perinatal care. All answer choices are confidential and no personal identifiers will be collected. You have been asked to participate in this study as a member of the health care team providing information, referral services or direct care to parents.

Click here to take the Survey or view more information.