Regional Perinatal Forum (RPF)

The mission of the Central New York Regional Perinatal Forum is to improve outcomes of pregnancy through collaborative efforts of the RPC, affiliate hospitals, comprehensive prenatal/perinatal services networks, county and state health department representatives and other agencies.

A primary focus of the Forum is increased access to early prenatal care. A reference GUIDE has been developed for patients and distributed to affiliate hospitals and comprehensive prenatal/perinatal services networks.

The Central New York Regional Perinatal Forum is co-chaired by the Executive Director of one of the Comprehensive Prenatal-Perinatal Services Networks serving the region, the OB Co-Director of the Regional Perinatal Program and the Neonatal Co-Director of the Regional Perinatal Program.

Current Forum Co-Chairs:

Diana Haldenwang—Executive Director, Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network
Richard H. Aubry, MD MPH—OB Co-Director, Regional Perinatal Program
Steven Gross, MD—Neonatal Co-Director, Regional Perinatal Program

Perinatal Forum

The first is a large, inclusive body, called the Perinatal Forum, comprised of many elements including:

Regional Perinatal Center
Statewide Perinatal Data System
All level 1, 2, and 3 perinatal units
Area comprehensive prenatal/Perinatal Networks
Ambulatory care units
Community agencies
Managed care organizations
Medicaid Representative
Other insurers
Impacted integrated service delivery networks
Medical education and professional organizations
Representatives of the county and state health departments
Area comprehensive prenatal/perinatal networks
Consumer advocate representatives

Perinatal Advisory Board

The second structure within the RPF is the Perinatal Advisory Board.

The Board consists of fifteen members. It's membership is representative, rather than all inclusive. It is the responsibility of each representative to insure that their constituency is properly represented. The size and membership of the board is reviewed annually.

Forum Co-Chairs
Chair of the Advisory Council (Forum)
Representative from the Statewide Perinatal Data System
Three representatives of the level 1 hospitals (one from each geographic area), a representative from the level 2 hospitals, and a representative of the level 3 hospitals. These representatives can be physician, nurse or administrator.
Representative from the NYS-DOH, regional office
Representative from the Prenatal/Perinatal networks serving the region
Representative from Medicaid, private insurance and managed care (beginning with Medicaid)
Consumer advocate representative.

The Board oversees a number of committees, with members chairing each committee. Reports from these committees are part of each Board meeting. The committees include:

Perinatal Data & Quality Improvement
Perinatal economics (e.g. addressing the impact of managed care on services)
Clinical guidelines
Outreach and Education, including the Perinatal Symposium
Administration and budget
Inter-institutional agreements, and provider/institution arbitration
Consumer issues

The Regional Perinatal Forum meets twice per year and the Perinatal Advisory Board meets quarterly.

Each institution or constituency selects its representative to the Board. Alternates are acceptable, but they must be well informed of the issues. At least 75% of the meetings must be attended.