*Editor’s note: This information was published in the December 2023 issue of Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine that provides CHM membership-related tips and tricks, testimonies from CHM members, and more. Please refer to the CHM Guidelines and applicable web pages for the most up-to-date information regarding CHM membership, sharing eligibility, and ministry news.*
In baseball, a home run with runners on every base is a grand slam. CHM is always looking to hit a grand slam to clear four healthcare bases:
- Clinical outcome: We want our members to get the highest quality care and the best possible health outcomes.
- Cost: To keep our monthly contributions low, we work to help our members get high-quality care at the lowest reasonable cost.
- Comprehensive: We want members and their families to be strengthened physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and relationally.
- Value providers: We want the providers our members work with to feel valued and be compensated promptly and fairly.
CHM isn’t content to get on just one or two bases: We want a healthcare “grand slam” for all our members! To accomplish this initiative, the CHM executive team asked the Maternity Care Team (MCT) to pilot these concepts on behalf of our soon-to-be mothers.
How the Maternity Care Team (MCT) helps members
The Maternity Care Team was created with the bold goal of achieving several outcomes:
- Early engagement of CHM members during their first 16 weeks of pregnancy.
- A seamless process that supports our new mothers so they don’t need to worry about anything but taking a healthy baby home.
- Mothers who had confidence they were getting top-quality care through an easy, uncomplicated process.
Over the past year, the MCT implemented new strategies to reach these goals. The team of maternity experts works together in the same room. All maternity calls are routed to these experts, and a Nurse Navigator answers questions members may have about prenatal care and how to find high-quality providers in their area.
Since this team was created, they’ve experienced many home runs.
- The MCT helped secure over 2,000 flat-rate packages for professional services and over 700 for hospitals, resulting in more than $3.14 million in savings.
- The MCT has had over 27,000 phone conversations to provide support and provide guidance for any maternity-related inquiries.
- Over 600 newly expecting mothers engaged with the MCT early in their pregnancies and were affirmed, equipped, and empowered in their journeys. By calling before 16 weeks of pregnancy, these members were also able to take $500 off their Personal Responsibility.
- Over 300 members used our Nurse Navigator to locate quality providers in their area and secured package rates that alleviated the pressure of paying at the time of delivery. Quality providers lead to better pregnancy and birthing outcomes with fewer complications and fewer unexpected costs for both mom and baby. As a result, members could focus on their baby rather than the delivery bill.
- Members learned through the MCT what to ask for from their providers, and helped bring the sharing time for maternity bills down to less than 60 days.
Individual team members have also shared some of the wins they’ve experienced personally.
Elaine, an MCT Advocate Specialist:
Mothers were able to talk things through with an experienced team member or our Nurse Navigator throughout their pregnancy. At the end of their pregnancy, they reported high satisfaction rates. Members were also far better informed and became consumer-savvy in the healthcare marketplace.
Crystal, MCT Assistant Team Lead:
The MCT’s approach quickly resolved the problems our members were facing. Members were usually able to speak to the same CHM staff member throughout their pregnancy, building familiarity and rapport, and realized that they weren’t alone in the marketplace!
Tina, MCT Supervisor:
The quality of information being provided to pregnant members has improved because all maternity calls are routed to the MCT, our maternity experts. Administratively, we are much more knowledgeable in our understanding of our maternity member needs. We have better processes, reports, and accounting systems, which are helping us know exactly where to focus future strategic efforts.
How to get involved
If you become pregnant, make sure that you contact the MCT at (800) 791-6225 during your first 16 weeks of pregnancy. You’ll not only be eligible to have the first $500 of your Personal Responsibility waived, but you’ll give the MCT the opportunity to give you the support you need for a high-quality maternity experience!
