26:18-10 Development of ongoing maternal health educational program and module.

433 words·~2 min read·/nj/title-26/chapter-18/26-18-10

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10. a. Upon receipt of the committee's first annual report, issued pursuant to section 9 of this act, the department, working in consultation with the committee, the Perinatal Quality Collaborative, the Maternal Child Health Consortia, and other relevant professional organizations and patient advocacy groups, shall develop an ongoing maternal health educational program for health care practitioners, as may be necessary to improve the quality of maternal care and reduce adverse outcomes related to, or associated with, pregnancy.

The educational program established pursuant to this section shall initially be based on, and shall reflect, the findings and recommendations identified in the committee's first report. However, once the educational program is established, the department shall, on at least an annual basis thereafter, review the program and make necessary changes to ensure that the ongoing education provided thereunder accurately reflects, and is consistent with, the latest data, findings, and recommendations of the committee, as reflected in the committee's most recent annual report.

b. Each hospital and birthing facility in the State shall require its health care practitioners involved in labor, delivery, and postpartum care to complete a standardized maternal patient discharge education module, pursuant to which such health care practitioners will be educated in the complications of childbirth, and the warning signs of complications in women who have just given birth. This educational module may be implemented in each facility before the department finalizes the Statewide educational program that is to be established under subsection a. of this section; however, after the Statewide educational program is finalized under subsection a. of this section, the educational modules implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be modified as necessary to conform to the department's educational program.

Any modules implemented before the department's Statewide educational program is finalized shall address the most frequent causes of maternal mortality, including but not limited to, hemorrhage, hypertension, preeclampsia, heart failure and chest pain, infection, embolism, and postpartum depression. Each facility shall additionally provide this information, both orally and in writing, to any woman who has given birth at the facility, prior to discharge. The educational module implemented under this subsection shall be completed by all relevant health care practitioners at the facility, as a condition of their practice or employment in the facility, and may be used to satisfy relevant continuing education requirements applicable to each such health care practitioner.

c. Within 90 days after the effective date of this act, the Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

L.2019, c.75, s.10.