Priority: Data sharing and collaboration

SPM 2: The extent to which data equity principles have been implemented in SD MCH data projects

2021-2025 Objectives and Strategies:

Objective:

1. Increase the number of new data sharing projects accomplished from zero to seven by September 30th, 2025.

2. Increase the number of new partners that we collaborate with on data projects from zero to five by September 30th, 2025.

Data Statement

During the reporting period, five new MCH data sharing projects were accomplished. This included the 2016-2020 infant mortality report, Women’s Report Card, 2020 SD PRAMS report, the Strategic Community Outreach and Outcomes Plan (SCOOP) dashboard, and the mortality data crosswalk. These projects are discussed in greater detail throughout this report. The MCH team also formed four new partnerships for data collaboration, which included the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), Dakota State University (DSU), Great Plains Tribal, and Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy.

Proposed strategies:

 2.1: Provide access to timely, reliable data so that partners and communities can use it in their own efforts to advance equity.

• Data dashboard with MCH data

The MCH Epidemiologist and WIC data specialist finalized the MCH data dashboard and posted it to the internal knowledge base site for Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) staff use. The dashboard was designed to follow the main health outcomes from a theory of change document that guides the office’s work. The dashboard also served as a critical piece of the needs assessment for staff working on the new Strategic Community Outreach and Outcomes Plan (SCOOP).

• South Dakota PRAMS released 2020 data reports. The full surveillance data report can be found on the South Dakota Department of Health website. https://doh.sd.gov/documents/statistics/PRAMS_SurveillanceDataReport_2020.pdf
• Maternal Child Health data was shared with partners through a variety of newsletters and list servs, including the April 2022 South Dakota Department of Health Bulletin. The bulleting provided information about and a link to the South Dakota 2020 PRAMS Surveillance Data Report.
• The Infant and Child Health Epidemiologist presented infant mortality and safe sleep data to the following groups:
  • Child Workgroup (February)
  • Preventable Death Committee (April)
  • Safe Sleep Workgroup (August)
  • East River CDR (September)
  • West River CDR (September)

2.2: Develop reports that highlight health inequities across programs and issue areas.

• Infant Mortality and Prevention Report The MCH Epidemiologist finalized the 2016-2020 Infant Mortality and Prevention Report which utilized data from vital records, infant death review, and PRAMS to share infant and maternal health outcomes. This report was shared with partners through a variety of methods including the April 2021 Maternal and Child Health Newsletter that reaches over 150 MCH partners statewide. https://doh.sd.gov/documents/statistics/InfantMortalityReport_2021.pdf
• South Dakota Women’s Report Card The MCH Epidemiologist worked with a MPH Student from the University of South Dakota to create a women’s health report card. This report card brought together health indicators from a variety of areas, including prenatal and postpartum care, birth outcomes, infectious diseases, substance use and mental health, and more. The report card is still in draft version but may be finalized to share with partners during the next reporting period.

2.3: Analyze de-identified data to assess social determinants of health and other underlying factors that play a role in morbidity and mortality.

• SD Maternal Mortality Review Committee The South Dakota Maternal Mortality Review Committee began reviewing cases in October 2021. The MCH Epidemiologist serves as the data analyst and co-coordinator for this committee. The committee is using the MMRIA system to abstract deaths. The group also participated in the pilot group to use the Discrimination and Social Determinants of Health (DASH) tool when reviewing cases. This gives the group a consistent set of data points to collect and generate conversation about how discrimination and social determinants of health may have been contributing factors in these deaths. The MCH Epidemiologist also implemented the socio spatial tool to further gain information about the places where these women lived and how that may have contributed to the deaths.
• Social Determinants of Health in Death Review The Infant and Child Health Epidemiologist created a spreadsheet to track the life course social determinants of health factors identified during child death review and maternal mortality review. This spreadsheet helps to track these factors, find common themes between deaths, and perform analysis quickly.  

• 2.4 Increase collaboration around American Indian data between state and tribal partners

• Infant Mortality Meetings with Tribes: Upon seeing the high American Indian infant mortality rates, the Maternal Child Health Epidemiologist and Infant and Child Health Epidemiologist joined the monthly Tribal calls between the Tribes and Department of Health to show new data and discuss current and future collaboration efforts for prevention.
• The Infant and Child Health Epidemiologist provided the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal Health Director with the American Indian pre-term birth, infant mortality, and stillbirth percentages and counts for Tribal counties from the last 10 years.

New Efforts:

• Strategic Community Outreach and Outcomes Plan (SCOOP) SCOOP is a new strategic plan for OCFS that includes WIC, community health services, and MCH priorities and staff. Each of the 75 clinics across the state is required to have a plan. The MCH epidemiologist led public health managers and staff through an evidence-based, public health strategic planning process in 2022. All the staff were led through a community health needs assessment, prioritization, and action planning. Each clinic has 5 action plans, one for nutrition, outreach, and breastfeeding to meet WIC requirements. Each clinic also has an infant mortality plan that aligns with the MCH block grant infant domain, and a fifth plan on a topic of their choice which varies by region of the state. The topics include vaccination for pregnant women, mental health for women, and mental health for youth. These plans also align with current maternal and adolescent domains in MCH. The clinics will start plan implementation in January 2023. The data team is working on outcome and evaluation indicators to measure this work.
• The MCH Epidemiologist attended the 2022 CityMatch Intermediate to Advanced training where she was able to further sharpen her analysis and evaluation skills. There was also a focus on equity and social determinants of health data. She attended a roundtable discussion on small numbers and reporting.
• The MCH Epidemiologist applied for and was awarded the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Linking PRAMS and Clinical Outcomes Data grant. The project team consists of the SDDOH vital records manager, Health Informatics Analyst, the MCH Epidemiologist, contracted data staff from South Dakota State University and Dakota State University, and the Medicaid Data Analyst. The team will be linking Medicaid claims data to SD PRAMS data from the years 2018-2020 in hopes of learning more about how experiences before and during pregnancy relate to outcomes, services, and access to care postpartum for women on Medicaid.
• The MCH Epidemiologist led a new OCFS team of staff focused on how to improve data reporting and quality. The team went through a gap analysis of current quality work in the department and made a recommendation to bring on a full-time contracted quality improvement specialist. The MCH Epidemiologist will be writing a request for proposal for this position.

Ongoing Efforts Supported by MCH for Cross-Cutting/Systems Building Domain

• PRAMS: MCH continued to conduct CDC Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) through a contract with South Dakota State University. 2020 PRAMS data was weighted and sent to South Dakota. SD PRAMS produced multiple reports from this data including the following:
  • 2020 Data summary report by maternal race, December 2021
  • 2020 Data summary report by WIC participation, December 2021
  • 2018-2020 Data summary report among WIC participants by public health service region, December 2021
  • 2019 Data report and summary report for American Indian mothers by reservation counties, PRAMS data report booklet, December 2021
  • 2020 Opioid Supplement Summary, December 2021
  • 2020 Disability Supplement Summary, December 2021