Tampa General Hospital Named a Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care

The TGH Women’s Institute was evaluated against rigorous measures to be included in the Blue Cross Blue Shield program.

 

Tampa, FL (Oct. 19, 2023) – Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is honored to announce that Blue Cross Blue Shield has once again named the TGH Women’s Institute a Blue Distinction Center+ (BDC+) for Maternity Care for its outstanding work in providing world-class care for women and infant patient populations. The TGH Women’s Institute is one of only 11 health care facilities in Florida and the only one in Hillsborough County to receive this distinction.

 

Blue Distinction Centers+ are health care facilities and providers recognized for their expertise and efficiency in delivering specialty care, and Tampa General was specifically awarded the Maternity Care designation. Objective data from a detailed Provider Survey, Plan Survey, third-party data and Blue Plan health care claims data were used to evaluate TGH against the BDC+ criteria.

 

Tampa General excelled when it was evaluated on the BDC+ selection criteria for the categories of Quality, Business and Cost of Care.

 

• The Quality evaluation consists of dozens of measures, including input from the medical community and quality measurement experts, a review of the medical literature and an analysis of national quality and safety initiatives for facilities.
• The Business evaluation verifies whether the academic health system provides maternity care, participates in the local Blue Plan’s BlueCard® PPO network, meets BCBSA criteria for avoiding conflicts with BCBSA logos and trademarks and meets local business requirements for individual Blue Plans for providers located within relevant service areas.
• The Cost of Care evaluation analyzes how well TGH addresses market and consumer demand for cost savings and affordable health care, using a consistent framework to define and adjust episodes and to establish and compare the resulting cost measures.

 

"Securing BDC+ status stands as a testament to the extraordinary commitment and collective contributions of our team members — from the dedicated nurses and proficient doctors to the diligent administrators,” said Melissa Golombek, vice president of the TGH Children’s Hospital and Women’s Institute. “It is the synergy of our team that has paved the way for this remarkable achievement."

 

The distinction also speaks to Tampa General’s leadership in high-risk obstetrics and its capabilities in offering access to the highest level of women’s and infant care in virtually every medical subspecialty, as well as psychology, genetic counseling, pediatrics and more. Tampa General outperformed on various measures (from obstetric hemorrhage preparedness to postpartum discharge transition safety), demonstrating a pattern of excellence that is second nature to the academic health system.

 

Dr. Judette Louis, chief of the TGH Women’s Institute and James M. Ingram Professor and Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine said, “In the face of alarmingly high maternal mortality rates in the United States, this commendation holds profound significance. At the TGH Women’s Institute, we stand resolute in our mission to effect positive change and lead the charge in making childbirth safer for all.”

 

For the academic health system that delivered over 7,000 babies in 2022, this is just one of the many acknowledgements the academic medical center has received in recent history that reflect an unwavering devotion to women’s health services. Tampa General was ranked a top 10 hospital in the nation and the highest-ranked hospital in Florida for Obstetrics & Gynecology by U.S. News & World Report for 2023-24 and was also named on Newsweek’s list of Best Maternity Hospitals for 2023. It is also the only hospital in Hillsborough County that is internationally endorsed as a Baby-Friendly® designated birth facility by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a program that is administered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

 

To learn more about the TGH Women’s Institute, please visit www.tgh.org/institutes-and-services/womens-institute. To learn more about the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program, please visit www.bcbs.com/blue-distinction-center/facility.