State-Identified Implementation Strategies to Increase Uptake of Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Policies.

BACKGROUND: In 2014, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) convened a multistate Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Learning Community to facilitate cross-state collaboration in implementation of policies. The Learning Community model was based on systems change, through multistate peer-to-peer learning and strategy-sharing activities. This study uses interview data from 13 participating state teams to identify state-implemented strategies within defined domains that support policy implementation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted by the ASTHO team with state team members participating in the Learning Community. Interviews were transcribed and implementation strategies were coded. Using qualitative analysis, the state-reported domains with the most strategies were identified. RESULTS: The five leading domains included the following: stakeholder partnerships; provider training; outreach; payment streams/reimbursement; and data, monitoring and evaluation. Stakeholder partnership was identified as a cross-cutting domain. Every state team used strategies for stakeholder partnerships and provider training, 12 reported planning or engaging in outreach efforts, 11 addressed provider and facility reimbursement, and 10 implemented data evaluation strategies. All states leveraged partnerships to support information sharing, identify provider champions, and pilot immediate postpartum LARC programs in select delivery facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing immediate postpartum LARC policies in states involves leveraging partnerships to develop and implement strategies. Identifying champions, piloting programs, and collecting facility-level evaluation data are scalable activities that may strengthen state efforts to improve access to immediate postpartum LARC, a public health service for preventing short interbirth intervals and unintended pregnancy among postpartum women.

Using a multi-state Learning Community as an implementation strategy for immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraception.

BACKGROUND: Implementation strategies are imperative for the successful adoption and sustainability of complex evidence-based public health practices. Creating a learning collaborative is one strategy that was part of a recently published compilation of implementation strategy terms and definitions. In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other partner agencies, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials recently convened a multi-state Learning Community to support cross-state collaboration and provide technical assistance for improving state capacity to increase access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in the immediate postpartum period, an evidence-based practice with the potential for reducing unintended pregnancy and improving maternal and child health outcomes. During 2015-2016, the Learning Community included multi-disciplinary, multi-agency teams of state health officials, payers, clinicians, and health department staff from 13 states. This qualitative study was conducted to better understand the successes, challenges, and strategies that the 13 US states in the Learning Community used for increasing access to immediate postpartum LARC. METHODS: We conducted telephone interviews with each team in the Learning Community. Interviews were semi-structured and organized by the eight domains of the Learning Community. We coded transcribed interviews for facilitators, barriers, and implementation strategies, using a recent compilation of expert-defined implementation strategies as a foundation for coding the latter. RESULTS: Data analysis showed three ways that the activities of the Learning Community helped in policy implementation work: structure and accountability, validity, and preparing for potential challenges and opportunities. Further, the qualitative data demonstrated that the Learning Community integrated six other implementation strategies from the literature: organize clinician implementation team meetings, conduct educational meetings, facilitation, promote network weaving, provide ongoing consultation, and distribute educational materials. CONCLUSIONS: Convening a multi-state learning collaborative is a promising approach for facilitating the implementation of new reimbursement policies for evidence-based practices complicated by systems challenges. By integrating several implementation strategies, the Learning Community serves as a meta-strategy for supporting implementation.

Communicating the Value of the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant.

The Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant (Block Grant) continues to offer public health leadership a major lever to promote health and ensure the delivery of essential public health services. This column describes reasons why public health leaders must maintain strong participation in defining and communicating the collective and localized benefits of this flexible funding program for prevention.

Working with State Health Departments on Emerging Issues in Maternal and Child Health: Immediate Postpartum Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives.

BACKGROUND: Immediate postpartum long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are highly effective in preventing unintended pregnancy. State health departments are in the process of implementing a systems change approach to better apply policies supporting the use of immediate postpartum LARC. METHODS: Beginning in 2014, a group of national organizations, federal agencies, and six states have convened a LARC Learning Community to share strategies and best practices in immediate postpartum LARC policy development and implementation. Community activities consist of in-person meetings and a webinar series as forums to discuss systems change. RESULTS: The Learning Community identified eight domains for discussion and development of resources: training, pay streams, stocking and supply, consent, outreach, stakeholder partnerships, service location, and data and surveillance. The community is currently developing resource materials and guidance for use by other state health departments. CONCLUSIONS: To effectively implement policies on immediate postpartum LARC, states must engage a number of stakeholders in the process, raise awareness of the challenges to implementation, and communicate strategies across agencies during policy development.