The bill aims to improve access to obstetric emergency services in rural areas through various provisions. It includes developing an evidence-based training program for practitioners in rural health care facilities, grants for equipment and supplies, a pilot program for teleconsultation, and a study on obstetric units in rural areas. The intended impact is to enhance the readiness and capacity of rural health care facilities to provide emergency obstetric services during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or the postpartum period, and to support maternal health care telehealth access programs for urgent maternal health care in rural facilities.
Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act
This bill creates and expands federal grant programs within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to increase capacity to provide emergency obstetric health services in rural areas or areas without practitioners or facilities specializing in obstetric services.
Specifically, HRSA must establish a program for providing grants to certain hospitals or consortiums that include hospitals in rural areas or areas with maternal health care professional shortages for training, developing a workforce, and purchasing equipment relating to obstetric emergencies. In addition, the bill requires HRSA’s Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health Capacity program to provide grants for training on emergency obstetric services for practitioners in rural health care facilities without dedicated obstetric units. HRSA must also establish a pilot program to provide grants to government entities for developing or improving telehealth access programs to support urgent maternal health care in rural facilities without a dedicated obstetric unit.