Arkansas is set to receive $17 million from a federal grant aiming to support efforts in improving the health outcomes of pregnant women, new mothers and babies.
The 10-year grant is a product of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for Medicare and Medicaid Services under its Transforming Maternal Health program. Last March, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders formed the Strategic Committee for Maternal Health which issued the recommendation to apply for the grant.
“Healthy moms means healthy babies,” Sanders said. “Pursuing this grant was one of the first major recommendations of the Strategic Committee for Maternal Health I convened, and it will facilitate much of the rest of our work to increase the maternal care workforce, invest in technology and research to help new moms, and connect expecting moms with health care providers in all corners of the state.”
According to state officials, the grant would focus on improving access, capacity, quality, safety and whole-person care while emphasizing on six areas:
-Analyzing data to target maternal health services better
-Educating providers and pregnant women on the benefits of leveraging doulas, community health workers, and midwives
-Investing in technology to better serve pregnant women and providers
-Building better technology infrastructure to collect and share data tied to maternal health measures
-Redesigning Medicaid reimbursement rates and payment structures, including a focus on incentive payments to providers whose patients have healthier outcomes
-Improving connections between health care providers and community-based organizations like nonprofits and faith-based groups that also serve low-income Arkansas women
The program will be lead by the Arkansas Department of Human Services, in coordination with the state health department and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
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