OB Patient Safety Credit Program: A Program for Obstetricians, Family Practitioners Providing Obstetrical Care, and Certified Nurse Midwives
As your partner in patient safety, we proudly offer the OB Patient Safety Credit Program. This voluntary program is open to all member obstetricians, family practitioners providing obstetrical care, and certified nurse midwives (CNMs) who are actively involved in deliveries.
The program, which is designed to address the most common types of OB claims, rewards physicians and their CNMs who successfully implement our patient safety steps. Qualifying members who meet the requirements will receive a patient safety credit of up to 10 percent applied to their next policy renewal period and 18 hours of CME credit.
Our program is built around the Perinatal Safety Bundle of courses, the only online courses of their kind. The courses were developed by Advanced Practice Strategies (APS), a leader in patient safety education, in partnership with the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions and the Hospital Corporation of America.
We’ve partnered with APS to offer our members a two-year license to access and participate in the Perinatal Safety Bundle courses at the discounted rate of $310.
Requirements for Qualifying
Participants must meet three requirements within 12 months of signing up for the program:
- Complete the Perinatal Safety Bundle courses. The education portion consists of four courses:
- Advanced Fetal Assessment and Monitoring (7 modules)
- Operative Vaginal Delivery
- Managing Shoulder Dystocia
- SBAR+R: Structuring Communication in Healthcare
- Develop a written protocol for communication (SBAR+R or similar) between the physician or CNM and the labor and delivery (L&D) nurses to be used in the event that any of the situations shown below occur. Our regional patient safety/risk manager can help members develop the protocol.
- Nonreassuring fetal heart rates using the guidelines as outlined in the APS Advanced Fetal Assessment and Monitoring course and any other change in the fetal tracing that the physician or CNM feels is reportable
- Elevated systolic BP of >140 mm Hg or diastolic BP of >90 mm Hg
- Vaginal bleeding
- Meconium
- Suspected abnormal presentation
- Elevated maternal temperature >100.4 or per hospital protocol
- Other criteria that the physician or CNM has identified (e.g., rise in fetal heart rate baseline of greater than 10 bpm, more than five variable decelerations in X minutes, etc.)
- Post the communication protocol in L&D, and implement it in coordination with nursing leadership.
How to Get the Patient Safety Credit
To receive the patient safety credit, members must demonstrate that they have met the following requirements:
- Successfully complete the four online courses.
- Send us a copy of the communication protocol. A regional patient safety/risk manager will call the OB nursing director to verify that the protocol has been implemented and followed consistently.
Continuing Medical Education Credits
With the completion of all four courses, members may earn up to 18 hours of CME credit. Courses are accredited by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in joint sponsorship with Advanced Practice Strategies.
Sign Up Today
If you have questions or would like to sign up, contact us at patientsafety@thedoctors.com or
(800) 421-2368, extension 1243.