Data serves as the critical factor in driving and sustaining change
Team Performance Plus offers a first year membership in the National Perinatal Information Center program of benchmarked data, and baseline and ongoing measures of the Adverse Outcomes Index (AOI). This measure was recently developed by an expert consensus panel to assess quality of care in L&D units, and to determine whether improved teamwork improves clinical outcomes.
An enhanced quality improvement program put in place in 2001, followed by a team training initiative in 2002, helped to create a culture of patient safety at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. That effort has paid off. By 2004, BIDMC saw a 47% drop in the adverse outcomes index among gestations under 37 weeks and a 14% for gestations over 37 weeks. Total improvement for the entire patient population was 16%.