Memorial Health System Recognized for Higher Quality and Cost-Efficiency in Maternity Care

Lake Charles Memorial Health System (LCMHS) is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana with a Blue Distinction^® Centers+ (BDC+) for Maternity Care designation, as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. To earn this designation, each facility must deliver quality care, safely and cost-effectively.

The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program plays a key role in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s (BCBSA) National Health Equity Strategy aimed at reducing racial health disparities across the care spectrum and improving patient outcomes for all Americans. To align with this strategy, the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program enhanced its quality and measurement standards to recognize higher-quality facilities that have taken action to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies, reduce racial disparities, and improve maternal health outcomes.

Based on data from the current designation cycle, facilities designated under the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program demonstrate higher-quality care compared to non-Blue Distinction Center facilities, with overall average rates of 26% lower episiotomies, 60% fewer elective deliveries and 17% lower cesarean births—all of which point to healthier outcomes for patients. BDC+ designated facilities also exhibited an average savings of 21% for maternity care.

“This recognition is a re-affirmation of the commitment to the quality, equitable maternal healthcare provided at our facilities. The dedication is evident in each member of the care team, ensuring that patients are the epicenter of how we care for the community,” says Bernita Brown, Vice President, and Administrator of Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for Women. “It’s not just a responsibility, but a privilege to provide the highest level of care possible to all women and their new bundles of joy.”

The Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity Care program’s selection criteria was devised to close clinical care gaps and reduce inequities that persist throughout the maternal care spectrum. The selection criteria includes components of BCBSA’s Maternal Health Equity Actions, which dismantle the cultural, operational and structural barriers that have created inequities that persist in maternal care.

To be designated under this program, each applicant facility was evaluated on a combination of objective data on patient outcomes as well as the practices implemented to reduce racial disparities and improve maternal health outcomes, such as:

·        Using evidence-based best practices to respond effectively to obstetric emergencies

·        Offering unconscious bias training

·        Participating in the regional Perinatal Quality Collaborative

·        Having doula support available on the maternity care team

·        Collecting race, ethnicity and language data

·        Having a program dedicated to quality improvements in maternal care

·        Running drills and simulations to prepare providers are prepared to deal with a range of obstetric emergencies

·        Demonstrating health outcomes that exceed the selection criteria from our program’s previous evaluation cycle

LCMHS is proud to be recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana for meeting the rigorous quality selection criteria for maternity care set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.

Since 2006, the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program has helped patients find quality specialty care at lower costs in the areas of bariatric surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, cellular immunotherapy, fertility care, gene therapy, knee and hip replacement, maternity care, spine surgery, substance use treatment and recovery, and transplants, while encouraging health care professionals to improve the care they deliver.  

For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated providers, visit our website.

All companies and trademarks listed above are the property of their respective owners and used for identification purposes only, and are in no way associated or affiliated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Use of these trademarks does not imply endorsement. The Blue Cross^® and Blue Shield^® names and symbols and Blue Distinction^® are registered trademarks of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

AboutLake Charles Memorial Health System

With personalized care for every stage of life, Lake Charles Memorial Health System makes receiving excellent healthcare close to home a reality. Nestled two hours from Houston and three hours from New Orleans, Lake Charles Memorial is a full-service, comprehensive health system, spanning a five-parish area in southwest Louisiana. Lake Charles Memorial responds to the most immediate and primary medical needs of all people in southwest Louisiana, as the largest full-service not-for-profit community health system in the region.

As one of the largest employers in the area, LCMHS offers a place on the team for 2,700-plus employees to provide for their families and reach their career goals.

Lake Charles Memorial Health system is made up of three hospitals, including Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for Women, the Archer Institute, 50+ clinic locations, including Moss Memorial Health Clinic, and the LSU Family Medicine Residency.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is committed to our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. Founded in New Orleans in 1934, we are a tax-paying nonprofit health insurer with offices in every major region to serve our customers. We have been recognized for the past four years as an honoree of The Civic 50, named by Points of Light as one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. We are a private mutual company, owned by our policyholders, with an independent Louisiana Board of Directors and no shareholders. We invite all Louisianians to visit our website at www.bcbsla.com or talk to us on social media @BCBSLA.

About the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national federation of independent, community-based and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for one in three Americans. BCBSA provides health care insights through The Health of America Report series and the national BCBS Health Index^SM. For more information on BCBSA and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com.

About Blue Distinction Centers

Blue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for providers located in its own service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers+ (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable healthcare. Each provider’s cost of care is evaluated using data from its Local Blue Plan. Providers in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of care evaluation(s) must meet BDC+ national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC+ are displayed on www.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage, contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for noncovered charges or other losses or damages resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.