Highland Family Maternity Center and Bariatric Surgery Center Recognized for Excellence

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield recently announced that Highland's Family Maternity Center received a Blue Distinction® Centers+ (BDC+) for Maternity Care designation, as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program and that Highland's Bariatric Surgery Center received a Blue Distinction® Centers+ for Bariatric Surgery designation, also as part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. William O’Malley, M.D., serves as chief of Bariatric Surgery and Mary Ma, M.D., serves as interim chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Facilities eligible for the Blue Distinction Centers for Maternity care show statistically significant differences in key clinical outcomes compared to their peers.

Racial and ethnic disparities are persistent and widespread across maternal healthcare, primarily driven by socioeconomic status, geographic location, and implicit provider bias. To help address these gaps in care and to help ensure the better health of mothers, The BlueCross BlueShield Association enhanced its quality evaluation for the Maternity Care program to address key factors driving the United States’ maternal health crisis, such as preventable or treatable pregnancy-related conditions, high utilization of Caesarean sections, and racial and ethnic disparities in maternal healthcare.

The Blue Distinction Centers for Bariatric Surgery program provides a full range of bariatric surgery care; including surgical care, post-operative care, outpatient follow-up care, and patient education.

Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities that show a commitment to delivering high quality patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community and leading accreditation and quality organizations.

2/1/2021