Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1485806
29 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT & MEASUREMENT CDC: More than 80% of maternal deaths are preventable By Cailey Gleeson M ore than 80 percent of maternal deaths between 2017 and 2019 were due to preventable causes, a report from the CDC found. The report, published Sept. 13, analyzed maternal mortality review committee data in 36 states for 1,018 maternal deaths between 2017 and 2019. "It's significant. It's staggering. It's heartbreaking," Allison Bryant, MD, an obstetrician and senior medical director for health equity at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and chair of the Massachusetts review committee, told USA Today Sept. 20. "It just means that we have so much work to do." Five key findings: • Of the total deaths, 839 occurred up to a year postpartum. • The six most frequent underlying causes of pregnancy- related death were mental health conditions, hemorrhage, cardiac and coronary conditions, infections, thrombotic embolism and cardiomyopathy. • Eighty-two percent of decedents lived in urban areas. • Black mothers made up close to a third of deaths in the study period. • More than 90 percent of Indigenous maternal deaths were preventable. n Healthcare workforce lost 333,942 providers in 2021 By Molly Gamble A n estimated 333,942 healthcare providers dropped out of the workforce in 2021, according to an Oct. 20 report from Definitive Healthcare. Definitive Healthcare analyzed medical claims data, based on the numbers of providers billing each year, in July and August 2022 to arrive at the annual estimate of providers' workforce departures. Here are three additional key takeaways from the report. 1. Definitive found 117,000 physicians le the workforce in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to its analysis of medical claims. It also estimates 53,295 nurse practitioners, 22,704 physician assistants, 22,032 physical therapists and 15,578 licensed clinical social workers dropped out of the workforce in 2021. 2. e physician specialties hit hardest by workforce exits are internal medicine (-15,000 providers), family practice (-13,015), clinical psychology (-10,874), chiropractic (-10,662), psychiatry (-8,629), optometry (-8,292), anesthesiology (-7,459), pediatric medicine (-7,330) and emergency medicine (-5,530). Combined, these nine specialties saw the loss of 86,791 physicians in 2021, according to Definitive's analysis. 3. Many physicians across several medical specialties are on the verge of retirement or approaching that age. Definitive analyzed its data to find the specialties and roles with the highest average provider age: chiropractic (61 years old), nurse and nurse practitioner (57 years), surgery (55 years), internal medicine (53 years) and anesthesiology (53 years). e average age of healthcare providers is 50 or older for psychiatry, physician assistants, family practice, pediatric medicine and emergency medicine. n People of color face high risk of flu hospitalization: CDC By Erica Carbajal C ompared to white adults, people of color in the U.S. are more likely to be hospitalized with the flu and less likely to be vaccinated against the flu, according to a large study the CDC published Oct. 18. The report is based on data from the agency's flu surveillance network. Researchers looked at hospitalization data from the 2009 flu season through 2022 as well as vaccination coverage data from 2010 through 2022. For most flu seasons since 2009, people of color were hospitalized at higher rates than white adults. Flu hospitalization rates were 80 percent higher among Black adults, 30 percent higher among American Indian or Alaska Native adults, and 20 percent higher among Hispanic adults. There were also significant disparities in flu vaccination coverage rates. Since the 2010-11 flu season, vaccination coverage has been consistently higher among white and Asian adults. During last year's flu season, 54 percent of white and Asian adults were vaccinated, compared to 42 percent of Black adults, 38 percent of Hispanic adults, and 41 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native adults. CDC officials said the disparities in outcomes and lower vaccination rates among people of color stem from lack of access to healthcare and insurance, misinformation and distrust, and providers missing opportunities to vaccinate patients during healthcare visits. Rates of asthma, diabetes and other chronic conditions are higher among certain racial and ethnic groups, which also raises the risk for severe flu complications. The CDC said increasing vaccination rates among people of color would require national, state and community-level efforts to build trust and increase access. n