Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Wins Gold Quality Award

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital recently received the Gold Quality Award from the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC) for outcomes achieved through the statewide Maternal Hypertension Initiative.

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths before, during, or after delivery in the United States as well as around the world. The initiative’s goal was to “reduce the rate of severe morbidities in women with preeclampsia, eclampsia, or preeclampsia superimposed on pre-existing hypertension by 20% by December 2017.” In Illinois, 110 birthing hospitals participated in the initiative. The ILPQC outcomes resulted in improved care for maternal hypertension across Illinois.

“We were so proud to participate in this initiative that improves the care and outcomes for our patients,” said Cindy Hartwig, executive director of Women’s Health and Professional Development at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. “Our teams worked tirelessly to make effective and lasting changes to help combat and reduce rates of maternal hypertension.”

Dr. Susan Rim, Debbie Schy RN, and Amanda Maine RN led teams across Lutheran General Hospital including those from the Emergency Department, Labor and Delivery, Ante, and Post-Partum to achieve the highest outcomes of quality improvement. Those outcomes, which include speeding up the time in which women with new onset of severe range hypertension receive medication, increasing the number of women who receive preeclampsia discharge education materials, and increasing the percent of women with new onset severe hypertension who scheduled a follow-up appointment 3 to 10 days after diagnosis, led to enhanced care for high-risk maternity patients at Lutheran General Hospital’s Level Three Perinatal Facility. Level Three facilities operate NICUs and care for patients who require complex care.

In addition, Lutheran General Hospital went above state requirements to provide home blood pressure kits to all patients in the severe range of hypertension. Patients were taught to take their blood pressure at home and Sue Sinopoli, the nurse navigator connected with discharged patients to ensure they kept their follow-up appointments.