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Superior HealthPlan's Start Smart for Your Baby® Program Harnesses Data to Improve Maternal and Newborn Health

Date: 02/15/22

Today, Superior HealthPlan detailed enhancements to its Start Smart for Your Baby® program, an initiative designed to improve maternal and newborn health and reduce the risk of birth defects. Using consumer data and analytics, Superior can now better identify expectant members to encourage participation in the program, thereby reducing pregnancy complications, pre-term and low-birth-weight deliveries, and infant disease, all while lowering healthcare costs.

More than 40 percent of all babies born in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid, and one in eight Medicaid covered infants is born premature. In 2020, approximately one in every 10 infants born in the U.S. were affected by preterm birth. Babies born prematurely may have long-term health problems, including increased risk of cerebral palsy, blindness, developmental delay, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Superior’s Start Smart for Your Baby® program is an evidence-based initiative of 13 years providing health education for pregnant people to help improve maternal and newborn health and reduce the risk of birth defects. Its new data-based risk model increases their probability of a healthier birth outcome by using machine learning science to help identify candidates for the program and calculate their risk for delivering low-birth-weight babies earlier.  

Start Smart for Your Baby® incorporates care management, care coordination, and health education to improve maternal and infant health. Members enrolled in the program have access to:

  • Educational materials and incentives for attending prenatal, postpartum, and well-child visits.
  • Help finding a doctor and setting up appointments.
  • Assistance with transportation to and from appointments.
  • A supplemental breastfeeding program.
  • A personal nursing staff and a 24/7 nurse advice line.
  • Robust text and email campaigns for tips on pregnancy and newborn care.
  • Special assistance to high-risk members enrolled in the OB care management program.
  • Community resources and support.

“Superior HealthPlan remains committed to providing support and care to expectant parents and newborns who need it every step of the way,” said Dr. David Harmon, Chief Medical Director at Superior HealthPlan. “By enhancing our Start Smart for Your Baby® Program to help better identify new birthing parents at risk of adverse birth outcomes, we can provide our pregnant members individualized support sooner for a healthier pregnancy experience.”

Centene and its health plans, including Superior, manage over 200,000 deliveries each year. Approximately 30 percent of these deliveries are high-risk, and 30 percent of the high-risk deliveries are engaged in care management. As participation in the Start Smart for Your Baby® Program has increased, the number of low- and very-low-birth-weight deliveries have decreased, with very low birth weight rates dropping by more than 30 percent across Centene health plans. The program has also achieved significant financial cost savings – estimated to be more than $50 million annually.

For more about Superior commitment to improving maternal and infant health, and addressing birth defects, visit SuperiorHealthPlan.com.