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Participating hospitals: Log into the California Maternal Data Center here.

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Interested in joining CMQCC and the Maternal Data Center? The following participation steps outline the process of joining:

Step 1: Learn more about CMQCC membership

The California Maternal Data Center is fully operated by CMQCC. If interested in joining, please email info@cmqcc.org and we will reach out to you with more information about Hospital Membership.

Step 2: Learn more about the Maternal Data Center (MDC) Tool. 

CMQCC will schedule a webinar presentation to demonstrate the MDC’s tools and features.

Step 3: Appoint key project contacts for the MDC  

Upon deciding to participate, contact CMQCC to designate a project administrator and review next steps.   

Step 4: Complete the Participation and Business Associate Agreement 

CMQCC will e-mail you the Participation Agreement, which reflects CMQCC’s commitment to compliance with all federal and state regulations around patient confidentiality and data security. Ask authorized hospital personnel to review, sign and return the agreement.

Step 5: Submit data

Upload Patient Discharge Data (PDD) to the MDC on a monthly or quarterly basis to receive rapid-cycle reports. These PDD are based on the same specifications as the data your hospital already submits to OSHPD—which means HIM departments can create the MDC file with minimal burden.  
For optional measures, you may choose to review the small set of records requiring chart-based data. 

Step 6: Metrics are ready!

CMQCC will schedule a 1.5 hour webinar to train your team on using the tool. After the training, you’re set to use the results to target your unique clinical and data quality improvement activities.

Read the MDC Executive Summary Here 

 

Resources

Participant resources

Data submission resources

 

Why the MDC is an Essential Investment

Since CMQCC's inception in 2006, when California’s maternal mortality rate reached an alarming high of 16.9 per 100,000 (1), we have worked collaboratively with stakeholders across the country to identify the key drivers of maternal mortality and morbidity and develop tools to help hospitals improve perinatal patient safety. Due in large part to this collaborative effort, California’s maternal mortality rate is currently among the lowest in the U.S.(2). CMQCC remains committed to the real-time development of solutions to assist our member hospitals in implementing the latest clinical guidance and data tools to improve outcomes. CMQCC’s role in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity is nationally recognized, and we stand firm in our mission to eliminate preventable maternal morbidity and mortality.

The MDC is a user-friendly, low-burden online tool that helps hospitals calculate, report perinatal clinical outcomes, and improve clinical performance. The MDC accepts hospital discharge data file submissions from all member hospitals. A dyadic linkage of maternal-newborn records is completed using birth certificate data received from the CA State Department of Vital Statistics and by utilizing the supplemental data elements provided for hospitals outside CA. The automatic calculation of approximately 70% of all MDC measures enables near-real-time performance metrics and benchmarking, which are crucial for improving perinatal quality. The MDC support team works closely with hospitals, providing personalized, prompt, exceptional support as needed.

 

Quality, Patient Outcomes, and Strategic Advantage 

Harnessing the power of integrated data and analytics, CMQCC’s MDC effectively equips hospitals with the tools to confidently lead quality improvement (QI) in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment. In addition to providing quality outcome trends for over 200 perinatal metrics, the MDC further disaggregates the data to provide users with the rationale behind what is currently driving the achieved outcomes. By delivering tailored insights and streamlining internal processes, the MDC enables organizations to focus resources where they matter most—on clinical excellence, staff development, and sustainable QI. Tracking key perinatal care metrics helps drive QI (3). The MDC empowers hospitals to drive focused, measurable, and sustainable QI in perinatal care and patient outcomes by delivering timely, actionable data and performance insights. When fully leveraged, hospitals can:

  • Utilize customizable performance dashboards, graph collections, and real-time insights

  • Measure progress with peer, statewide, regional, and system benchmarking

  • Evaluate patient and provider-level data to identify QI opportunities

  • Use the Severe Maternal Morbidity (SMM) case review tool with measure analysis to identify key drivers

  • Measure data elements related to peer-reviewed clinical toolkits, guidelines, and best practices that directly improve outcomes

  • Ease program reporting data burden

  • Implement data-driven clinical decision-making

  • Review all chart review cases, or sample per the built-in Joint Commission sampling methodology

  • Decrease need for external consultants and third-party analytics services

  • Strengthen position in competitive value-based care and perinatal health initiatives

  • Achieve incentives tied to quality-based reimbursement target

  • Prioritize investment in clinical training and standardized protocols where gaps are identified

 

Reporting & Compliance

The MDC features a built-in reporting infrastructure that supports both mandatory and optional reporting, minimizing manual data entry, ensuring reporting accuracy for over 15 major programs, including, but not limited to:

  • California Children’s Services (CCS): CCHD Reporting 

  • HCAI: Hospital Equity Reporting Program

  • The Joint Commission’s Direct Data Submission Platform (DDSP) and TJC: Maternal Safety Standards

  • Leapfrog Hospital Survey

  • U.S. News & World Report Maternity Services Survey

  • Pay-for-performance hospital incentive programs such as DHCS: Quality Incentive Pool / Health Net / Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) / Partnership Health Plan of California (PHP) 

This external reporting support provided through the MDC can reduce the administrative and IT workload for compliance, data abstraction, and regulatory readiness, fulfilling hospitals’ external reporting obligations. The MDC also regularly maintains algorithms for all measures overseen by external measure stewards (e.g., The Joint Commission’s Perinatal Care (PC) measures), ensuring consistent alignment with measure specifications.

 

SUMMARY: Advancing Strategic Perinatal Health Through Data-Driven Care 

Continued investment in CMQCC and the MDC is more than a strategic decision; it is a commitment to excellence, quality improvement, saving lives, and transforming perinatal care. With California leading the nation in perinatal outcomes, this collaboration empowers hospitals with the data, tools, and guidance to drive and sustain measurable change. From real-time analytics to benchmarking, the MDC equips hospital teams to improve outcomes for women and birthing people in a value-based landscape. Membership in CMQCC is more than just an investment in infrastructure – it’s an investment in impact, health equity, and the future of perinatal health. 

Additionally, the CMQCC MDC delivers operational efficiencies and strategic advantages for hospitals engaged in perinatal health and value-based care:

  • Automates perinatal data workflows, reducing manual labor and IT/Quality Management costs
  • Streamlines compliance reporting using existing hospital data, minimizing administrative burden
  • Real-time dashboards and customizable metrics accelerate QI efforts
  • Evidence-based insights enhance eligibility for value-based care incentives
  • Actionable data supports strategic planning and clinical decision-making
  • Enables reallocation of staff time from data tasks to direct patient care
  • Strengthens readiness for public quality transparency and statewide perinatal health initiatives

As a Senior QI Consultant at one of CMQCC’s member hospitals recently shared in a testimonial:

 “As a QI professional, the MDC has elevated my practice and helped me put significant practice changes into place that would not have been possible without the data to support the initiatives. The toolkits, supportive research, and samples of process, protocol, etc., support my work and make it easy to be well-informed. The providers I work with that demand the research behind any initiative are always impressed when I come back with it instantly. I feel like I have only mentioned the tip of the iceberg here. I simply cannot recommend them highly enough!”  

 

References

  1. https://www.cmqcc.org/about/member-hospitals/california-hospital-membership, accessed 9/29/25.
  2. https://www.cmqcc.org/files/CPQCC_CMQCC_Impact_Report_2024_FINAL_v2.pdf, accessed 9/29/25.
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/maternal-infant-health/media/pdfs/California-Success-Story_508tagged.pdf, accessed 9/29/25.

 

Funding Acknowledgement

The Maternal Data Center is currently supported by participating hospitals and grants from the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). We are grateful to CHCF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their financial support developing the Maternal Data Center.