(1) The Colorado maternal mortality review committee is hereby created in the department for the purposes of:
Reviewing specific cases of maternal death that occur in Colorado;
Identifying the causes of maternal mortality; and
Developing recommendations to address preventable maternal deaths, including legislation, policies, rules, training, and best practices that will support the health and safety of the pregnant and postpartum population in Colorado and prevent maternal deaths.
(2) (a) By October 1, 2019, the executive director of the department shall appoint at least eleven members to serve on the committee. The term of appointment is three years; except that the term of the first six members appointed is two years. Members may serve up to three terms.
The executive director may fill any vacancies on the committee.
(b) In appointing members to the committee, the executive director shall:
Follow best practices as outlined by the centers for disease control and prevention inthe federal department of health and human services;
Ensure that committee members represent diverse communities and a variety of clinical, forensic, and psychosocial specializations and community perspectives; and
Make an effort to include committee members working in and representing communities that are:
Diverse with regard to race, ethnicity, immigration status, English proficiency, income, wealth, and geographic region of the state, including both urban and rural areas; and
Affected by higher rates of maternal mortality and by a lack of access to the fullscope of maternity care health services.
(c) The members of the committee who reside more than fifty miles from the location of a committee hearing are entitled to receive the same per diem compensation and reimbursement of expenses as those provided for members of boards and commissions pursuant to section 1220-103 (6), and for expenses incurred in traveling to and from the meetings of the committee, including any required dependent or attendant travel, food, and lodging. Members of the committee are also entitled to reimbursement for any expenses necessary to support the members' participation at a committee hearing, including any dependent or attendant care.
The committee may form special ad hoc panels to further investigate cases of maternal death resulting from specific causes when the need arises.
The committee shall:
Review each death in Colorado that is a maternal death;
Review medical records and other relevant data related to each maternal death;
Take steps to improve the quality and scope of data obtained through investigationsand review of maternal deaths;
Identify the causes of maternal mortality, including any trends and patterns acrossracial, geographic, and other groups;
Develop recommendations for the prevention of maternal mortality and deliver therecommendations to the department;
Perform any other functions as resources allow to enhance the capability of the stateto reduce and prevent maternal mortality; and
Advise the department in the department's work on decreasing maternal mortality.
(5) The department shall:
Compile reports of aggregated, nonindividually identifiable data on a routine basisfor distribution in an effort to further study the causes and problems associated with maternal mortality that may be distributed to policy makers, health care providers and facilities, behavioral health providers, public health professionals, and others necessary to reduce the maternal mortality rate;
Serve as a link with maternal mortality review teams throughout the country andparticipate in regional or national maternal mortality review team activities; and
Request input and feedback from interested and affected stakeholders.
(6) (a) No later than July 1, 2020, and July 1 every three years thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the house of representatives committees on public health care and human services and health and insurance and the senate committee on health and human services, or their successor committees. The report must include:
In consultation with health equity experts, recommendations to achieve equity in maternal health outcomes in Colorado;
Recommendations to reduce the incidence of preventable maternal mortality and related morbidity;
A prioritization of a limited number of causes of maternal mortality that are identified as having the greatest impact on the pregnant and postpartum population in Colorado and as most preventable; and
In consultation with the designated state perinatal care quality collaborative, recommendations for clinical quality improvement approaches that could reduce the incidence of pregnancy-related deaths or maternal mortality or morbidity in prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal clinical settings and recommendations for how to spread best practices to clinical settings across the state.
The department shall post the report prepared in accordance with this subsection (6) on its website.
Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the reporting required by this subsection (6) continues indefinitely.
Source: L. 2019: Entire article added, (HB 19-1122), ch. 196, p. 2140, § 1, effective May 16.