Congratulations to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for receiving a certificate of excellence from the Quality Improvement Network for Contraceptive Access (QINCA) for providing our patients with access to contraception options in a post-partum setting.
Currently, 60% of all pregnancies in New York City are unintended. In response to these numbers, the QINCA program was implemented by the New York City Department of Health (DOH) with the purpose of increasing patient access to contraceptive counseling and reducing the number of unintended pregnancies across the city by working with hospitals to provide contraceptive, family planning and primary care services to communities.
This is the second time Jamaica Hospital has received the Certificate of Excellence in recognition of our efforts in this area. In 2016, the hospital participated in phase 1 of the QINCA initiative, which aimed to provide similar contraceptive education, information and support in an outpatient setting. Jamaica was selected as one of only ten hospitals throughout New York City to participate in the initiative with services being provided at the hospital’s Women’s Health Center and Family Medicine Center.
Based on our success in phase 1 of the QINCA program, Jamaica was one of nine hospitals invited to participate in phase 2, where the same efforts were applied in an inpatient environment. According to phase 2, which began in early 2017, Jamaica Hospital physicians and nurses would educate expectant mothers during the prenatal process about their contraception options and offer them a choice of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).
These birth control methods are highly effective in preventing pregnancy, last for an extended period of time, and once inserted, work without user action. LARCs include intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants like Nexplanon. Women interested in receiving these forms of contraception were provided them immediately after giving birth.
To receive the certificate of excellence for phase 2 of the QINCA program, the multidisciplinary Jamaica Hospital team had to display a commitment to providing optimal conditions for contraceptive access. They also had to participate in regular webinar-based and in person training with the DOH. In addition, the hospital was required to share data with the group and was subject to multiple site visits by the DOH.
Jamaica Hospital received its official certificate of excellence at a ceremony held on Friday, March 2, at the NYC DOH offices. According to Dr. Tamara Magloire, Director of Ambulatory for Ob/Gyn, “We are very proud to have achieved this goal. We feel it is our responsibility to educate and support women in our community about the various forms of contraception available to them. By working with QINCA, we are able to offer women a method of contraception that is best suited for them.”