238927 Go Before You Show: A social marketing campaign to reduce disparities in timely prenatal care in a Medicaid population

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Daisy Liu, MPH , Quality Department, Health Plan of San Mateo, South San Francisco, CA
Birth certificate and HEDIS data revealed that Health Plan of San Mateo's Medicaid members demonstrated ongoing disparities in timely onset of prenatal care. In 2008-2009, Caucasian women's rate of starting care in the first trimester was 93%; Latina and African-American women's rates were 82.6%, while Pacific Islander women's rate was 66.6%. Pregnant member survey data indicated near universal agreement that early prenatal care was important, but demonstrated a lack of understanding of what was “early.” Difficulty grasping how to obtain Medicaid was also a frequent complaint. We formed a collaborative with the county health department and agencies, community based organizations and clinics, giving us insight and feedback on our messages. We targeted two groups: teens/new moms, and experienced moms, pregnant with their second or greater child. Colorful, culturally sensitive images, focus-tested with specific community groups, helped us tailor our message to each group with disparities in timely onset of prenatal care. We proceeded to roll out a community-wide social marketing campaign aimed at encouraging women to “Go Before You Show.” We developed a toll free number and web site, produced brochures and posters, and used bus ads, movie theater ads and a billboard to get our message to the community. By 6 months, we had distributed over 25,000 brochures and 3,000 posters. We also emphasized the availability of “temporary Medicaid” when pregnancy is diagnosed. This led to a five fold increase in applications for this program within six months after our campaign began. We hope to see HEDIS improvement next.

Learning Areas:
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Identify Disparities in Timely Prenatal Care Among Racial/Ethnic Groups in One Medicaid Plan's Population Describe at Least Two Methods Used by a Medicaid Plan to Tailor its Social Marketing Message to Different Racial/Ethnic Groups

Keywords: Prenatal Care, Prenatal Interventions

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Medical Director of HPSM and also direct the Quality Department, where I led the development of the Go Before You Show campaign, was the project director for the grant we received, and continue to direct the ongoing implementation of the program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.