PCCI fighting back against rising infant mortality rates

In this DCEO article, PCCI’s Yolande Pengetnze, MD, MS, FAAP, Vice President, Clinical Leadership, was quoted and PCCI (and its partners) were shown as leaders in helping support at-risk, pregnant women in the community – in the wake of new data released by the CDC. This article shows the real, positive impact of the preterm birth prevention program.

Read the article here: https://www.dmagazine.com/healthcare-business/2023/11/texas-is-one-of-four-states-with-increasing-infant-mortality-this-local-organization-is-fighting-back/

A highlight from the article:

Lack of health insurance and access to prenatal care is a significant factor for infant mortality, says Dr. Yolande Pengetnze, a pediatrician at the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation. Other factors that increase infant mortality are social determinants of health, like transportation, healthy food, and childcare.

“When we see the data on infant mortality, an increase in mortality is driven by preterm delivery,” Pengetnze says. “It is mostly babies born at a gestational age of less than 24 weeks.”

PCCI has long been operating a program to target high-risk pregnant women to help them avoid preterm birth, the primary driver of infant mortality. The program helps them connect to prenatal care and overcome other barriers to seeing a provider. The Preterm Birth Intervention Program uses several factors to identify high-risk women signed up through the Parkland Community Health Program, a Medicaid managed care program. These women can sign up to receive text reminders to attend upcoming appointments and other educational interventions to prevent preterm births.