HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

151st GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1

FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 344

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BIAS TRAINING FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Subchapter IX, Chapter 1, Title 16 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underline and deletions as shown by strikethrough as follows:

§ 197. Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative.

(a) (1) The Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative (“Collaborative”) is established to improve pregnancy outcomes for women and newborns by addressing all of the following:

a. Obstetrical blood loss management.

b. Pregnant women with substance use disorder.

c. Infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

d. Advancing evidence-based clinical practices and processes through quality care review, audit, and continuous quality improvement.

e. Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in health care associated with implicit and explicit bias by identifying and developing guidelines of best practices for cultural competency training programs to be implemented by hospitals and freestanding birthing centers.

(g) The Collaborative shall do all of the following:

(1) Maintain a core set of quality improvement projects based on best practices and interventions that have a measurable impact on health outcomes.

(2) Identify performance metrics to set statewide quality benchmarks.

(3) Support the use of real-time hospital and facility-based data to perform rapid-cycle quality improvement and advocate for real-time data at a state level.

(4) Share successes of quality improvement projects at hospitals and facilities.

(5) Develop, issue, and revise as appropriate guidelines for cultural competency training programs consistent with best practices for use by hospitals and freestanding birthing centers in employee training and education programs.

(h) The Collaborative may do all of the following:

(1) Develop a responsive, real time, risk-adjusted, statewide perinatal data system.

(2) Access timely, accurate, and standardized information and utilize perinatal data to drive quality improvement initiatives.

(3) Develop a collaborative, confidential data-sharing network, including public and private obstetric and neonatal providers, insurers, and public health professionals, to support a system for peer review, bench marking, and continuous quality improvement activities for perinatal care.

(4) Review annual reports from hospitals and freestanding birthing centers regarding implementation of and compliance with the cultural competency training guidelines developed by the Collaborative.

(5) Conduct other activities the Collaborative considers necessary to carry out the intent of the General Assembly as expressed in this section.

Section 2. The Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative (DPQC) shall establish guidelines for cultural competency training programs applicable to all employees of hospitals and freestanding birthing centers by January 1, 2023. All licensed hospitals and freestanding birthing centers shall conform cultural competency training programs to be consistent with guidelines developed by the DPQC by July 1, 2023.

SYNOPSIS

This Substitute Bill directs the Delaware Perinatal Quality Collaborative (DPQC) to develop guidelines for cultural competency training programs for use by hospitals and freestanding birthing centers in employee training and education programs. ‘Cultural competency’ is comprehensive term that incorporates diversity, inclusion, and implicit/unconscious bias training. Guidelines must be developed by the DPQC by January 1, 2023, and all hospitals and freestanding birthing centers must conform their cultural competency training programs to be consistent with the guidelines developed by the DPQC by July 1, 2023. The Substitute Bill also authorizes the DPQC to review annual reports from hospitals and freestanding birthing centers regarding their implementation of and compliance with the guidelines developed by the DPQC.