Infant and Maternal Mortality Task Force (IMMT): Systems Subcommittee

The purpose of the Task Force is to “[work] to identify and to present key strategies to decrease infant and maternal mortality among African Americans in Illinois,” according to its inaugural 2020 report (https://www.dph.illinois.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immt-report-2020ga.pdf)

This meeting is of the Systems subcommittee. “The three subcommittees are: (1) Community Engagement; (2)
Systems; and (3) Programs and Best Practices.”

It’s 12:05 PM. Folks are still getting their video and audio in order. Roll call imminent.

12:06 PM. We are called to order! We start roll call. Seems fewer than half of the names called are present.

We don’t yet have a quorum (7 out of 17 members), so the subcommittee can’t approve last meeting’s minutes at this moment.

Catherine Harth, MD (one of the Systems co-leads) reports that there’s no update on doula certification due to lack of meetings on the topic.

Glendean Burton, MPH, BSN, RN, CLC (the other co-lead) and Dr. Harth discuss setting up a meeting on doula certification soon.

For those curious: this is what government meetings in 2021 look like. https://t.co/noqk6QWTtf

Dr. Burton recounts how this board has collaborated with other organizations like @ChiVolDoulas to expand access to doulas

Dr. Burton gives an update on an meeting on July 14 about telehealth. Medical care, social services, MCOs, and continuity of care are all impacted by telehealth, she says.

She discusses how, in July, midwives and other healthcare providers were starting to resume home visits, but, due to a surge of the Delta variant, this trend has slowed or stopped.

Burton asks: “what are other states doing to educate clients about telehealth?” She says that the IL department of Healthcare and Family Services should be involved in this conversation. Website: https://www2.illinois.gov/hfs/Pages/default.aspx

Arden Handler stresses the need to ensure that telehealth care is covered by Medicaid. Also the need to set expectations and baselines for accessing telehealth.

Dr. Glenda Burnett worries about the lack of information re telehealth for maternal care. She urges the members to put themselves in the shoes of a pregnant mother. When you make an appointment, will you have privacy for that appointment? Or will you want others for support?

She touches on the difficulty in seeing “the total person” in a telehealth visit. On Zoom, she notes, you typically only see someone’s head and shoulders. The etiquette and routine of virtual medicine may take some time to get used to.

Dr. Burton asks if anyone has a brochure about prenatal care expectations from pre-COVID that could be updated for telemedicine. Arden Handler says she probably does, as she “has everything.”

Dr. Harth mentions that there are areas in Chicago where Internet access is inconsistent, which presents a significant barrier to accessing telemedicine.

Dr. Harth says that at the last general meeting of the Infant and Maternal Mortality Task Force there was “un-clarity” about subcommittees: a graceful way of saying that people are confused what the subcommittees are supposed to do.

In theory, this Systems subcommittee is looking at the systems already in place in the state. She asks: what’s the difference between this group and the Programs subcommittee?

Since the last meeting, Dr. Harth continues, this subcommittee has made progress by approving bylaws.

Dr. Burton concurs that there is “un-clarity.” She says that there are several child health programs in Illinois that haven’t been evaluated in terms of their actual effect of infant and maternal health. This group ought to catalogue those systems and programs

Arden Handler stresses how huge of a project this would be, requiring a lot of work and staff members that this subcommittee doesn’t have. She says that a group with support staff ought to accomplish that.

Dr. Burton asks the group how this body would go about requesting funding. Trishna Harris replies that their division chief would know more about how to access funding. Dr. Harth suggests that they subsidize a student to do this work as a paid research project.

Callan Harris suggests that they seek funding through the new program, HFS Healthcare Transformation Collaborative

Dr. Harth discusses their recommendation that maternal care providers receive bias training to address the systemic inequities in this healthcare space. She remarks that healthcare providers in general should receive this too, but this body’s focus is on maternal health.

Arden Handler clarifies that there is already a law about healthcare providers receiving bias training, but it is overseen/enforced by a different governing body. See the text of the bias law here: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=309&GAID=16&SessionID=110&LegID=128202

The synopsis of the bill: “Creates the Implicit Bias Training for Health Care Professionals Act. Provides that in order to renew a license as a health care professional in the State, a licensee shall complete an evidence-based implicit bias training, which shall include the…”

“promotion of bias-reducing strategies to address how unintended biases regarding race, ethnicity, gender, identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics affect the health care industry. Specifies information that shall be included in the…” (2/3)

”…implicit bias training. Provides that the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation shall adopt rules to implement the Act.”

Arden Handler stresses the need for this Task Force to be at the table when implementing bias training to ensure its effectiveness.