A competency based approach to comprehensive pregnancy care.

This paper assesses the quality and cost of a pregnancy care program based on explicit and achieved patient competencies. By using the USPHS Content of Prenatal Care (1989), key psychosocial/education elements of perinatal care were identified. The goal was a process of patient education that is competency based, integrated, and outcome oriented. Psychosocial assessment, patient education tools, criterion-based length of postpartum stay, and home nursing follow-up were implemented as part of a Comprehensive Pregnancy Program (CPP). Case-control and cohort survey methodology were used to evaluate outcome. There was a significant decrease in hospital length of stay for mothers and newborns after implementation of the CPP. Post-discharge maternal emergency room visits and/or readmits did not increase. Differences in newborn emergency room visits and/or readmits were non-significant. There was a marked reduction in hospital costs for mothers and newborns. Patient satisfaction remained high. Core competencies forming the basis of educational and assessment programs allow the focus of care to be optimal outcome, and provide a useful template against which to measure prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care.