About Us
The California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative (CPQCC) is an outgrowth of a 1997 initiative proposed by the California Association of Neonatologists (CAN). It is supported in part by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the State of California, Department of Public Health, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Program (CDPH-MCAH). The Collaborative's initial focus was the development of perinatal and neonatal outcomes and information, which allowed for data driven performance improvement and benchmarking throughout California.
Over the last ten years, CPQCC has developed a network of stakeholders consisting of public and private, obstetric and neonatal providers, health care purchasers, public health professionals and private sector health industry specialists. The preliminary planning group included: CDPH-MCAH, California Children's Services (CCS), California Office of Vital Records (OVR), California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), Regional Perinatal Programs of California (RPPC), Health Insurance Plans of California, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), California Association of Neonatologists (CAN), Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Vermont Oxford Network (VON). These distinguished stakeholders, along with many of our member hospitals, comprise the CPQCC Executive Committee, which meets regularly to debate, review, prioritize and plan the direction in which the Collaborative moves. Such dialogue assures continued success within all project components.
CPQCC advocates not only superior patient care, but also efficiency in resource allocation and utilization. Quality improvement activities are aimed at identifying desired outcomes and promoting best practice. Both the patient and the payer are considered when formulating best practice. Health care providers and academic researchers benefit from our demographically and biologically rich database, which offers nearly real time data management. Sound data is critical for generating new hypotheses to be tested in the field, and for developing new analytical approaches to understanding health risks and public health in general.
CPQCC membership has grown to more than 125 hospitals. This roster accounts for most of the newborn infants requiring critical care in California. These member hospitals submit data to the CPQCC Data Center, which is managed locally. Ultimately, the Collaborative hopes to serve all of the hospitals in California with NICUs. Key CPQCC activities include:
- Developing and maintaining a responsive, real-time, risk-adjusted perinatal data system.
- Implementing a comprehensive strategy for benchmarking and data- driven quality improvement activities.
- Providing topic-specific, intensive quality improvement collaborative projects, trainings and toolkits.
- Researching best practices and continual reassessment of outcomes of performance improvements initiated.
The CPQCC perinatal data system is an integrated data management system that facilitates the identification of important perinatal improvement targets and monitors the public health effects of planned interventions, such as system changes, medical treatments, and/or care behavior modification. The involvement and assistance of state agencies, such as the CDPH-MCAH and CCS Programs has ensured the rapid transformation of California into a perinatal care quality improvement machine. Regional organization for implementation of quality improvement activities assures that all Californians benefit from improved perinatal outcomes. CPQCC is a true public health initiative.
The CPQCC Data Center worked closely with VON to integrate existing California perinatal databases with VON's existing data system. California statewide databases include the automated birth and death files containing information that complements the current dataset. In addition, all California hospitals participate in data collection for the Offices of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), which include maternal and newborn discharge, re-hospitalization and cost of care information. Coordination of all current databases ultimately enhances and improves perinatal care and outcomes.
The Perinatal Quality Improvement Panel (PQIP) is a permanent subcommittee with expertise in the area of quality improvement. PQIP analyzes CPQCC data and reviews current, relevant literature. Using this information, PQIP defines indicators and benchmarks, recommends quality improvement objectives, provides models for performance improvement, and assists providers in a multi-step transformation of data into improved patient care.
CPQCC has upheld its original goal of blending academic and private neonatology into a common body politic, to partner with various private and public institutions that share the common goal of improving health care outcomes for mothers and babies in California. From conception to its current operations, it has been a "grass-roots," public-sensitive, business-savvy, academic-friendly mechanism that thrives as a result of the commitment and input of diverse stakeholders. As each of the constituencies grows increasingly satisfied with the outputs of CPQCC, all of California can be proud of what it is contributing to perinatal health care. Varied and sometimes disparate perspectives have been transformed into a common vision. Everyone stands to win when quality is coupled inextricably with accountability.
If you would like additional information, please contact the Collaborative office:
CPQCC, 1265 Welch Road, X1C55 , Stanford CA 94305 //
650-721-6540 // FAX 650-723-2829 //E-Mail barbar@stanford.edu