Sec. 204. Respectful maternity care compliance program
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The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the Secretary ) shall award grants to accredited hospitals, health systems, and other maternity care delivery settings to establish within one or more hospitals or other birth settings a respectful maternity care compliance office. A respectful maternity care compliance office funded through a grant under this section shall— institutionalize mechanisms to allow patients receiving maternity care services, the families of such patients, or doulas or other perinatal workers supporting such patients to report instances of disrespect or evidence of bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class; institutionalize response mechanisms through which representatives of the office can directly follow up with the patient, if possible, and the patient’s family in a timely manner; prepare and make publicly available a hospital- or health system-wide strategy to reduce bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class in the delivery of maternity care that includes— information on the training programs to reduce and prevent bias, racism, and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class for all employees in maternity care settings; and the development of methods to routinely assess the extent to which bias, racism, or discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class are present in the delivery of maternity care to minority patients; and provide annual reports to the Secretary with information about each case reported to the compliance office over the course of the year containing such information as the Secretary may require, such as— de-identified demographic information on the patient in the case, such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, and primary language; the content of the report from the patient or the family of the patient to the compliance office; and the response from the compliance office.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish processes for— disseminating best practices for establishing and implementing a respectful maternity care compliance office within a hospital or other birth setting; promoting coordination and collaboration between hospitals, health systems, and other maternity care delivery settings on the establishment and implementation of respectful maternity care compliance offices; and evaluating the effectiveness of respectful maternity care compliance offices on maternal health outcomes and patient and family experiences, especially for minority patients and their families.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, through a contract with an independent research organization, conduct a study on strategies to address disrespect or bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class in the delivery of maternity care services. The study shall include the following: An assessment of the reports submitted to the Secretary from the respectful maternity care compliance offices pursuant to subsection (b)(4).
Based on such assessment, recommendations for potential accountability mechanisms related to cases of disrespect or bias on the basis of race, ethnicity, or another protected class in the delivery of maternity care services at hospitals and other birth settings. Such recommendations shall take into consideration medical and non-medical factors that contribute to adverse patient experiences and maternal health outcomes. The Secretary shall submit to the Congress and make publicly available a report on the results of the study under this paragraph.
To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2021 through 2026.