Definitions

Goal of the New Perinatal Health Care Initiative

To improve perinatal health outcomes in New York State through a better integration of regionalized clinical services using data-driven methods to identify best practices.

  • RPC (Regional Perinatal Center)- "Level IV" Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery
    A hospital which provides perinatal clinical services that meet the standards for a level III clinical program but also includes highly specialized services (e.g. ECMO, cardiac surgery, in utero procedures etc.) that may not be available at Level III facilities. The RPC has additional responsibilities for teaching, research, and out-reach as well as database management for its network of hospitals. The RPC is required to formulate an infrastructure to enhance integration of perinatal health care services to accomplish these goals using the tool of a "Regional Perinatal Forum."
  • Level III Nursery
    Same as RPC for all levels of clinical services but without the teaching, research, database management and outreach services or regional forum as a mandatory requirement. Can receive transports.
  • Level II Nursery
    Keeps neonates at 30 weeks gestation or greater, if no more than 7 days on a ventilator, and if less than 3 subsecialists are needed. Would typically transfer less than 1% of all births and can receive back transports.
  • Level I Nursery
    A primary care well baby service. No ventilators.
  • Affiliated Hospital
    Any hospital within a RPC's defined relationships that has executed a Perinatal Affiliation Agreement with the RPC to enable them to share in clinical outcome and Q/A data.
  • SPDS (State Perinatal Database System)
    NYS DOH initiative that involves establishing a Statewide Perinatal Database in every hospital in NYS where maternal/newborn services are offered. It is intended to give hospitals and public health agencies timely access to clinical data for quality improvement and public health efforts while at the same time providing a mechanism for registering births with the Vital Records program.
  • EBC (Electronic Birth Certificate)
    A web based electronic system for the registration and transfer of birth certificate information from the hospital of birth to the Department of Vital Records.
  • Regional Perinatal Forum
    A collaborative effort between the RPC and the Comprehensive Prenatal Perinatal Services Networks in the region, regional hospital affiliates as well as other non-hospital health care providers ("stakeholders") to increase access to perinatal services, to achieve improvements in quality of care in the region and to address other state and region-wide public heath issues related to maternal and infant health. Can include personnel from relevant groups providing health care resources or services such as: the insurance industry, early intervention programs, health clinics, March of Dimes, family support groups, etc.
  • CPPN's (Comprehensive Prenatal Perinatal Networks)
    Community based organizations whose mission is to organize perinatal health care information and to facilitate access to available maternal and child health care systems at the local level.The object is to improve regional perinatal health outcomes in partnership with the RPC.

Read More About Levels of Neonatal Care