AHA-supported maternal health, workforce resiliency bills clear committee

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions today passed, as amended, three AHA-supported bills to improve maternal health and support front-line health care workers. 
 
The Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act (S. 1675) would fund programs that develop and disseminate best practices to improve maternal outcomes; educate health care professionals with respect to perceptions and biases that may impact care for racial and ethnic minority populations; and establish perinatal quality collaboratives and programs to deliver integrated care to pregnant and postpartum women. 
 
The Rural Maternal and Obstetric Modernization of Services Act (S. 1491 /H.R. 769) would authorize grants to implement obstetric networks, maternal telehealth programs and a maternal care training demonstration for providers in rural settings, and improve rural obstetric care data collection at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
 
The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (S. 610), named for a doctor who led the emergency department at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, would authorize grants to create programs that offer behavioral health services for front-line workers. It also would require the Department of Health and Human Services to study and recommend strategies to address provider burnout and facilitate resiliency, and launch a campaign encouraging health care workers to seek assistance when needed.