Sec. 503. Task force on maternal health data and quality measures
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Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish a task force, to be known as the Task Force on Maternal Health Data and Quality Measures (in this section referred to as the Task Force ). The Task Force shall use all available relevant information, including information from State-level sources, to prepare and submit a report containing the following: An evaluation of current State and Tribal practices for maternal health, maternal mortality, and severe maternal morbidity data collection and dissemination, including consideration of— the timeliness of processes for amending a death certificate when new information pertaining to the death becomes available to reflect whether the death was a pregnancy-related death; maternal health data collected with electronic health records, including data on race and ethnicity; the barriers preventing States from correlating maternal outcome data with race and ethnicity data; processes for determining the cause of a pregnancy-associated death in States that do not have a maternal mortality review committee; whether maternal mortality review committees include multidisciplinary and diverse membership (as described in section 317K(d)(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 247b–12(d)(1)(A) ); whether members of maternal mortality review committees participate in trainings on bias, racism, or discrimination, and the quality of such trainings; the extent to which States have implemented systematic processes of listening to the stories of pregnant and postpartum women and their family members, with a particular focus on minority women and their family members, to fully understand the causes of, and inform potential solutions to, the maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity crisis within their respective States; the consideration of social determinants of health by maternal mortality review committees when examining the causes of pregnancy-associated and pregnancy-related deaths; the legal barriers preventing the collation of State maternity care data; the effectiveness of data collection and reporting processes in separating pregnancy-associated deaths from pregnancy-related deaths; and the current Federal, State, local, and Tribal funding support for the activities referred to in clauses
(i)through (x). An assessment of whether the funding referred to in subparagraph (A)(xi) is adequate for States to carry out optimal data collection and dissemination processes with respect to maternal health, maternal mortality, and severe maternal morbidity. An evaluation of current quality measures for maternity care, including prenatal measures, labor and delivery measures, and postpartum measures up to one year postpartum. Such evaluation shall be conducted in consultation with the National Quality Forum and shall include consideration of— effective quality measures for maternity care used by hospitals, health systems, birth centers, health plans, and other relevant entities; the sufficiency of current outcome measures used to evaluate maternity care for testing and validating new maternal health care payment and service delivery models; quality measures for the childbirth experiences of women that other countries effectively use; current maternity care quality measures that may be eliminated because they are not achieving their intended effect; barriers preventing maternity care providers from implementing quality measures that are aligned from best practices; the frequency with which maternity care quality measures are reviewed and revised; the strengths and weaknesses of the Prenatal and Postpartum Care measures of the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set measures established by the National Committee for Quality Assurance; the strengths and weaknesses of maternity care quality measures under the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program under title XXI of such Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.), including the extent to which States voluntarily report relevant measures; the extent to which maternity care quality measures are informed by patient experiences that include subjective measures of patient-reported experience of care; the current processes for collecting stratified data on the race and ethnicity of pregnant and postpartum women in hospitals, health systems, and birth centers, and for incorporating such racially and ethnically stratified data in maternity care quality measures; the extent to which maternity care quality measures account for the unique experiences of minority women and their families; and the extent to which hospitals, health systems, and birth centers are implementing existing maternity care quality measures. Recommendations on authorizing additional funds to improve maternal mortality review committees and relevant maternal health initiatives by the agencies and organizations within the Department of Health and Human Services. Recommendations for new authorities that may be granted to maternal mortality review committees to be able to— access records from other Federal and State agencies and departments that may be necessary to identify causes of pregnancy-associated deaths that are unique to women from specific populations, such as women veterans and women who are incarcerated; and work with relevant experts who are not members of the maternal mortality review committee to assist in the review of pregnancy-associated deaths of women from specific populations, such as women veterans and women who are incarcerated. Recommendations to improve current quality measures for maternity care, including recommendations on updating the Pregnancy & Delivery Care measures on the Hospital Compare website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or any successor website, with a particular focus on racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes. Recommendations to improve the coordination by the Department of Health and Human Services of the efforts undertaken by the agencies and organizations within the Department related to maternal health data and quality measures. Not later than 60 days after the date on which a majority of the members of the Task Force have been appointed, the Task Force shall publish in the Federal Register a notice for a 90-day public comment period, beginning on the date of publication, on the issues described in paragraph (1). The Task Force shall be composed of 18 members appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Secretary shall give special consideration to individuals who are representative of populations most affected by maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity. To be eligible to be appointed as a member of the Task Force, an individual shall be— a woman who has experienced severe maternal morbidity; a family member of a woman who had a pregnancy-related death; an individual who provides non-clinical support to women from pregnancy through the postpartum period, such as a doula, community health worker, peer supporter, certified lactation consultant, nutritionist or dietitian, social worker, home visitor, or a patient navigator; a leader of a community-based organization that addresses adverse maternal health outcomes with a specific focus on racial and ethnic disparities; an academic researcher in a field or policy area related to the duties of the Task Force; a maternal health care provider; an elected or duly appointed leader from an Indian Tribe; an expert in a field or policy area related to the duties of the Task Force; or an individual who has experience with Federal or State government programs related to the duties of the Task Force. Appointments to the Task Force shall be made not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Each member shall be appointed for the life of the Task Force. Not later than 30 days after the date on which a majority of the members of the Task Force have been appointed, the Secretary shall select two of the members of the Task Force to serve as Co-Chairs of the Task Force. A vacancy in the Task Force— shall not affect the powers of the Task Force; and shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. In the event of a vacancy of a Co-Chair of the Task Force, a replacement Co-Chair shall be selected in the same manner as the original selection. Except as provided in paragraph (8), members of the Task Force shall serve without pay. Members of the Task Force shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of service for the Task Force. The Task Force shall meet at the call of the Co-Chairs of the Task Force. A majority of the members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum. The Task Force shall meet not later than 60 days after the date on which a majority of the members of the Task Force have been appointed. The Co-Chairs of the Task Force may appoint and fix the pay of additional staff to the Task Force as the Co-Chairs consider appropriate. The staff of the Task Force may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating to classification and General Schedule pay rates. Any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Task Force without reimbursement from the Task Force, and the detailee shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employment without interruption. The Task Force may take such testimony and receive such evidence as the Task Force considers advisable to carry out this section. The Task Force may secure directly from any Federal department or agency information necessary to carry out its duties under this section. On request of the Co-Chairs of the Task Force, the head of that department or agency shall furnish such information to the Task Force. The Task Force may use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other Federal departments and agencies. Not later than 2 years after the date on which the initial 18 members of the Task Force are appointed under subsection (c)(1), the Task Force shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on Education and Labor, and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and make publicly available, a report that— contains the information, evaluations, and recommendations described in subsection (b); and is signed by more than half of the members of the Task Force. Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task Force. In this section: The term maternal health care provider means an individual who is an obstetrician-gynecologist, family physician, midwife who meets at a minimum the international definition of the midwife and global standards for midwifery education as established by the International Confederation of Midwives, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist. The term maternal mortality review committee means a maternal mortality review committee duly authorized by a State and receiving funding under section 317K(a)(2)(D) of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 247b–12(a)(2)(D) ). The term pregnancy-associated death means a death of a woman, by any cause, that occurs during, or within 1 year following, her pregnancy, regardless of the outcome, duration, or site of the pregnancy. The term pregnancy-related death means a death of a woman that occurs during, or within 1 year following, her pregnancy, regardless of the outcome, duration, or site of the pregnancy— from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the pregnancy or its management; and not from accidental or incidental causes. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section for fiscal years 2021 through 2024.
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- 42 USC 247b–12(d)(1)(A)
- 42 USC 247b–12(a)(2)(D)
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Sec. 503
Task force on maternal health data and quality measures
Cite42 USC 247b–12(d)(1)(A)
Cite42 USC 247b–12(a)(2)(D)
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