title: Regionalization reigns--but is care being delivered accordingly? An evaluation of perinatal care delivery in a regionalized child health network.
abstract: The Child Health Network for the Greater Toronto Area (CHN), a network of 20 hospitals and 9 community care access centres, assessed one component of its early progress in building a regionalized system of perinatal care. Focusing on the relationship between hospital level of care and gestational age, the study showed that most births occurred at appropriately designated facilities. However, a quarter of newborns of gestational age <32 weeks were delivered at a lower level of care than is considered optimal. CHN's ongoing research will offer opportunities to assess the impact of regional models on their foremost goal--quality clinical care.
authors.affiliation: Health System Intelligence Project.
authors.forename: Shehnaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alidina
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ardal
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Raskin
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shennan
authors.forename: Linda Marie
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007229:Infant Welfare; D008485:Medical Audit; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems; D009864:Ontario; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000592:standards*