Raising the Bar: How Maternal Mortality Is Being Addressed in Missouri

Date & Time

The live session has ended. To access the webinar recording and resources, click the green play button. If you haven't registered yet, please fill out the registration form.

About

Even with access to evidence-based practices and toolkits, many birth units struggle to implement patient safety bundles and effectively address severe maternal morbidity. In recognizing these ongoing challenges, Missouri emphasized that success requires more than resources — it calls for effective application-based learning methods and cross-collaboration to drive continuous quality improvement. 

In their search for effective solutions, the Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative partnered with Relias to introduce targeted learning modules on obstetric hemorrhage and hypertension. By addressing key barriers and fostering strong cross-collaborative relationships, they developed innovative approaches that enhanced recognition, response, and outcomes. This webinar will highlight their journey, discuss barriers, and provide practical strategies for your organization to drive meaningful improvements in maternal health care. 

Learning objectives:  

Examine maternal health outcomes and the rationale driving innovative solutions. 
Understand the role collaboration plays in program success.
Analyze program deployment, current status, and future goals.
Identify barriers to improvement and strategies for overcoming them.

If you cannot attend the live webinar, we still encourage you to register, as all registrants will receive an email with a link to the recording and resources.

Register To Watch on Demand

First Name*

Error: Please enter your first name.

Last Name*

Error: Please enter your last name.

Your Work Email Address*

Error: Please enter your email.

Phone*

This field is required.

Title*

This field is required.

Company*

This field is required.

Industry*

This field is required.

State/Province*

This field is required.

Presenters

Lora Sparkman, MHA, RN, BSN

VP, Patient Safety and Quality | Relias

Lora Sparkman holds a Master of Health Administration from Lindenwood University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Missouri, and a Diploma in Nursing from Barnes Hospital School of Nursing. She has been a nurse for 37 years and leading patient safety and improvement work for over 22 years. Sparkman's work includes using software and technology to advance healthcare education to improve the competency of clinicians, which leads to improved patient outcomes. For the past six years, she has served as a clinical leader at Relias, one of the largest healthcare education and solutions providers in the U.S. that is leading the industry in healthcare workforce readiness. In 2022, Sparkman was recognized as one of the top 10 Women Leaders in Healthcare Software by Beckers and the top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare Software by The Healthcare Technology Report.
Alison Williams, DNP, MBA-HCM, CPHQ, LSSGB

Vice President of Clinical Quality Improvement | Missouri Hospital Association

Alison Williams serves as the Vice President of Clinical Quality Improvement at Missouri Hospital Association where she and her team of clinical and quality improvement experts support members to improve the quality of care provided in Missouri’s hospitals and communities. She has been an RN for 24 years and earned her Doctorate in Nursing Practice in Nursing Leadership and Health Care Innovations from the University of Missouri in 2023. Williams also earned a Masters in Business in Health Care Management, is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality, and is certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She has worked across the healthcare spectrum and has over a decade of experience in hospital-based nursing leadership roles. Williams currently serves on Missouri’s Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Board, leads the Missouri Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Maternal-Child Learning and Action Network, and oversees the implementation of Missouri’s Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health initiative, as well as the overall clinical quality programming at MHA. Her passion is maternal-child health nursing, designing performance improvement efforts, and facilitating collaboration among broad stakeholder groups to inform strategy and action that will lead to healthier communities.