Boston, MA, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) recently received a generous grant from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation in the amount of $159,500 with the goal of improving birth outcomes for more than 1000 Missouri babies over the next two years. The grant will be used to expand access to CenteringPregnancy™ group prenatal care in areas of Missouri with high rates of infants born weighing less than 5.5 lbs.

CenteringPregnancy is a nationally recognized and evidence-based model of care shown to improve a wide range of birth outcomes. With this funding, CHI will identify and partner with three prenatal care practices in St. Louis and Springfield to start the CenteringPregnancy model. Each practice will receive a two-year implementation and training support package that will culminate in accreditation by CHI.  

This will bring the total number of CenteringPregnancy practices in Missouri to thirteen. The award also includes technical assistance and training for existing Centering practices in Ferguson and Columbia.

“Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation’s generosity allows us to reach more sites in Missouri and contribute to our hope of increasing group care into the healthcare system,” says Angie Truesdale, CEO of Centering Healthcare Institute. “We are incredibly grateful for this partnership and opportunity to help babies and families in this region.”

”Babies exhibiting low birth weight has been a problem in Missouri,” said Jay Moore, M.D., chief medical director, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. “By partnering with CHI, we can provide Missouri mothers-to-be access to programs that can help them prepare to deliver healthy babies that meet birth weight standards.”

CenteringPregnancy group care follows the recommended schedule of ten prenatal visits, but each visit is ninety minutes to two hours long—giving patients ten times as much time with their provider team. Patients engage in their care by taking their own weight and blood pressure, recording their own health data, and have private time with their provider for their belly check.

For more information about this grant or to apply, please visit the Centering Healthcare Institute Grants page.

*****

CHI is improving health by transforming care through Centering groups. With over two decades of experience in group healthcare, CHI has developed and sustained the Centering model in more than 500 practice sites and within some of the largest health systems in the world. The evidence-based model of group medical visits brings patients out of the exam room and into a group setting where they learn from their providers and each other.  Working with many dedicated individuals and organizations, CHI is building a future where group healthcare becomes the standard of care.

About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Anthem’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses it’s funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long-term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s year-round Associate Giving program and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates’ pledges. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Marena Burnett Centering® Healthcare Institute 8572847570 mburnett@centeringhealthcare.org