Evaluating the effect of program enhancements designed to change disparities in birth outcomes: A targeted evaluation of pregnant women in Palm Beach County

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Debi Gavras, CIO, Health Care District of Palm Beach County, 324 Datura Street, Suite 401, West Palm Beach, FL 33401, 561-659-1270, dgavras@hcdpbc.org

The Maternity Care Program (MCP) was implemented in October 2004 by the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. The Health Care District of Palm Beach County's mission is to plan for the access and delivery of healthcare to all Palm Beach County, Florida residents. The purpose of the MCP program is to provide coverage for prenatal care to women who are ineligible for Medicaid, but are too poor to cover the costs of care without assistance.

In 2004, the rate of women in Palm Beach County who initiated prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy was significantly lower than statewide levels. Furthermore, within Palm Beach County, significant disparities existed among certain populations. The MCP program was developed specifically to address local barriers in access to prenatal health, especially in regards to the initiation of prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy.

This presentation will discuss the evaluation of this program which took place one year after implementation of the Maternity Care Program. The goals of the evaluation were to document the process of implementation of a new prenatal care coverage program for Medicaid-ineligible women, and also to conduct a preliminary assessment of program effectiveness. Program findings were developed from unique demographic and claims record for 1,262 MCP participants.

The scope of the evaluation examines both process and short-term outcomes of the program and couples the findings with quantitative and qualitative study methodology. The result is a number of relevant findings for the field of maternal health.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will

examine how revised prenatal care program application procedures effect a target population’s rate of entry into a prenatal program
understand the effect of eligibility process policy changes on an agency’s ability to respond to the needs of pregnant women
assess a maternal care program’s ability to increase knowledge about prenatal care options among eligible women, and examine key facilitators of such knowledge
describe the effect on short-term health outcomes (e.g., receipt of prenatal care, prenatal care entry trimester) among pregnant women participating in the coverage program
identify unintended outcomes of revised eligibility policies on pregnant women
describe the effect of eligibility interventions on birth outcomes data
discuss programmatic barriers and recommendations for implementation of program enhancements

Keywords: Prenatal Interventions, Prenatal Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Topics in MCH Epidemiology and Data

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA