Virginia maternal health outcome improvements spanning four years

June 13, 2024 2 minute read

UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia is dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes in the state and has made significant maternal health quality improvements over the past four years. Maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are consistently higher than that of other high-income countries. Specific to Virginia, maternal mortality rates increased from 37.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018 to 86.6 in 2020.¹

However, those rates decreased to 66.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 following the state’s adoption of policies such as Medicaid extension and doula reimbursement.^2,3 The decrease can also be attributed to initiatives such as UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia’s care framework. The plan’s framework connects health-related social needs with community investments and member and provider programs to continue to improve quality of care and maternal outcomes.

This framework has driven the following maternal health outcome improvements:

From 2020 to 2022, the plan saw a 14% increase in HEDIS postpartum care for Medallion 4.0 members which is Virginia’s Medicaid program for infants, children, pregnant individuals and adults in low-income families with children.
From 2022 to 2023, the following improvements were observed:
- Total C-section rates declined, with primary and non-medically necessary rates decreasing by 4.7% and 5.7% respectively
- Pre-term births decreased by 2.9% overall and by 1.5% among Black individuals
- Low birth weight rates decreased by 23.9% overall and by 24.8% among Black and African American individuals
- NICU utilization decreased by 16.5%
- Neonatal abstinence syndrome decreased by 16%
- Timeliness of prenatal care increased by 10.1%

These achievements underscore UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Virginia’s commitment to serving the health care needs of birthing people in Virginia. Learn more about the plan’s efforts to help Virginians live healthier lives by visiting our website.

Virginia's Population Health approach contributed to 1st place in RFP and Population Health scoring

"Clear framework/strategic approach that connects to HRSN, community investments and incentives (member and provider-facing). Clearly articulated overarching strategy connected to other benefits/services (e.g., HRSN)."

"Robust use of data to inform improvement activities/address gaps."

- RFP reviewer comments on strengths of response