I am not sure if this has already been discussed but Joint Commission 
has just confirmed that it will be measuring exclusive breastmilk 
feeding at discharge starting next April. See the announcement below. 
This is a real advance for breastfeeding, as hospitals will now be 
accountable for assuring that measures are put in place to improve 
exclusive breastmilk feedings which will hopefully stem the flow of so 
much early formula supplementation. Those who work in hospitals may 
wish to start thinking about how you can help your hospital achieve 
better exclusive breastfeeding rates!

http://www.jointcommission.org/PerformanceMeasurement/PerformanceMeasurement/Perinatal+Care+Core+Measure+Set.htm

July 20, 2009
National Hospital Inpatient Quality Measures- Perinatal Care Core 
Measure Set

Background
UPDATE JULY 2009: In late 2007, The Joint Commission’s Board of 
Commissioners recommended retiring and replacing the Pregnancy and 
Related Conditions (PR) measure set with an expanded set of 
evidenced-based measures. A technical advisory panel (TAP) comprising 
experts in the perinatal care field was convened in February 2009 to 
select the replacement set of measures from among those endorsed for 
national use by the National Quality Forum. This expanded measure set, 
now referred to as Perinatal Care (PC) comprises the following measures.

Elective deliveries
Cesarean sections
Antenatal steroids
Health care–associated bloodstream infections in newborns
Exclusive bre
ast milk feeding

Refinement of measure specifications has begun and will continue 
through most of 2009. It is anticipated the PC measure set will be 
available for implementation by Joint Commission listed vendors by 
October 1, 2009 to support hospitals’ data collection beginning with 
April 1, 2010 discharges. If you have any questions about this measure 
set, please submit your question online.


Marsha Walker, RN , IBCLC
Weston, MA

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