For the purpose of these rules, the following definitions
shall apply:
"Categorization" means a preliminary
determination by the department that a hospital is capable of providing
maternal care and neonatal care at Level I, Level II, Level III, or Level
IV.
"Certificate ofverification" means a document
awarded by the department that identifies a hospital's level of maternal care
and neonatal care at Level I, Level II, Level III, or Level IV and the term of
verification at that level.
"Department" means the Iowa department of
public health.
"Director" means the director of the Iowa
department of public health.
"Hospital" means a facility licensed under
Iowa Code chapter 135B.
"Late preterm" means that a newborn infant is
born between 34 0/7 and 36 6/7 weeks' gestation.
"Levels-of-care assessment tool" or
"tool" means a tool to assess the maternal and neonatal
risk-appropriate care, using the minimum information necessary to identify a
hospital's maternal level of care based on criteria by the American Congress of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists/Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and a
hospital's neonatal level of care based on criteria by the American Academy of
Pediatrics. The tool will be chosen by the department in consultation with the
perinatal guidelines advisory committee.
"Neonate" means a newborn infant, up to 28
days of life.
"On-site verification survey" means an on-site
survey conducted by the department's statewide perinatal care team based at the
University of Iowa hospitals and clinics or by a survey team of members
(medical experts) contracted to assess a hospital's ability to meet the level
of designation selected by the hospital.
"Perinatal" means the five months before and
one month after birth.
"Perinatal center" means a medical facility
capable of providing complex obstetric, fetal and neonatal care.
"Perinatal guidelines advisory committee"
means the committee that provides consultation to the department regarding
these rules for the regionalized system of perinatal health care, reviews and
updates Guidelines for Perinatal Services and provides review and counsel to
the statewide perinatal care program.
"Prenatal" means during pregnancy.
"Readily available" means on site or at a
closely related institution by prearranged consultative agreement.
"Regionalized system of perinatal health care"
means the department's program for designating regional perinatal health care
services at a verified level of care, based on a hospital's functional
capabilities. Levels of care designations are stratified in an increasing order
of intensity and complexity for both maternal health care and neonatal health
care.
"Regionalized system of perinatal health care
coordinator" means the department's program manager for the
regionalized system of perinatal health care.
"Respiratory distress" means tachypnea
(respiratory rate of 60 or more per minute), grunting, tugging, retracting,
nasal flaring, or cyanosis. Any or all of these may constitute respiratory
distress in a neonate.
"Reverification" means the process of periodic
review, conducted at least every three years, to certify that a hospital has
maintained its designated level of care in accordance with criteria established
under these rules for hospitals that are participating in the regionalized
system of perinatal health care.
"Statewide perinatal care program" means a
program consisting of the regionalized system of perinatal health care
coordinator, the statewide perinatal care team contracted by the department,
and the regionalized system of perinatal health care as defined in these
rules.
"Statewide perinatal care team" means the
educational team based at the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics and
contracted by the department to support the regionalized system of perinatal
health care and to provide services to decrease perinatal morbidity and
mortality.
"Verification" means a process by which the
department certifies a hospital's capacity to provide perinatal care in
accordance with criteria established under these rules for hospitals that are
participating in the regionalized system of perinatal health
care.
