Section 640.80  Regional Perinatal Networks – Composition and Funding

a)         Regional Perinatal Networks, as defined in Section 640.20, may include any number and combination of hospital-based maternity and newborn facilities functioning at one of the three levels of perinatal care according to policies and practices described in their letters of agreement.  Where more than one Level III facility provides services within a regional perinatal network, a letter of agreement with the Perinatal Center shall describe how each will participate in the provision of services included in Section 640.40(c) of this Part.  Such regional perinatal networks may also include other agencies, institutions and individuals providing a complete range of perinatal health services including preconceptional, prenatal, perinatal and family follow-up care services as part of the regional network.

b)         The Department may allocate funds for perinatal health services provided through Regional Perinatal Networks.

1)         Sections 630.30 through 630.70 of the Department's "Maternal and Child Health Services Code" (77 Ill. Adm. Code 630) describes categories of maternal and child health services project activity that are eligible for funding.  Requirements for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Project grant applications are included in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 630.80 through 630.200.

2)         Funds available to the Department for funding of regional perinatal networks may be awarded under the following mechanisms:

A)        The Department may provide grants to designated Perinatal Centers responsible for the administration and implementation of the Department's regionalized perinatal health care program.  Under this option the "Perinatal Center" is the applicant for MCH Project funds and will apply as specified in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 630.30 through 630.70.

B)        The Department may provide grants to regional perinatal networks acting through a Regional Perinatal Management Group representing all participants in the regional network for systems management and perinatal services, including providers of preconceptional, prenatal, and family follow-up care, as well as providers of hospital-based perinatal care services.  Under this option the "Regional Perinatal Management Group" is the applicant for MCH Project funds and will apply as specified in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 630 and this Part.

C)        Grant applications by regional perinatal networks may include services and responsibilities assigned to Perinatal Centers and Level III facilities in Section 640.40(c) of this Part in addition to the perinatal care services included in 77 Ill. Adm. Code 630.30 through 630.70.

D)        The Department may reimburse Perinatal Centers, providers of high-risk services at Level III facilities and health care agencies providing follow-up services where no local health department exists through contracts developed directly with these agencies, institutions and individuals for costs incurred in providing perinatal care services.

3)         Preventive Services

A)        A portion of funds available to the Department for funding regional perinatal networks shall be targeted for Preventive Services.  These funds may be distributed or allocated to perinatal centers or regional perinatal networks according to a needs-based formula.  The formula for determining the Preventive Services allocation is based upon the following need factors:

i)          Number of live births by Regional Perinatal Network

ii)         Fetal death rate by Regional Perinatal Network (Number of fetal deaths per 1,000 live births plus fetal deaths)

iii)         Low birthweight rate by Regional Perinatal Network (Number of live births less than 2500 grams per 1,000 live births)

iv)        Low or no prenatal care rate by Regional Perinatal Network (Number of live births to females receiving prenatal care during the third trimester or no care per 1,000 live births)

v)         Number of hospitals in Regional Perinatal Network

B)        The rates, based on occurrences at hospital of birth are calculated for each Regional Perinatal Network using vital statistics for the latest three years combined for which data is available.  Total live births for these years also are considered.  The most current Regional Perinatal Network affiliation is used to aggregate the occurrences and determine the number of hospitals in each network.

C)        The formula gives equal importance to each of the five need factors. Higher rates and absolute numbers indicate greater need.  The values of each factor for each Regional Perinatal Network are standardized (Z-scores),* transformed into stanine scores,** and summed.  The sum represents each Regional Perinatal Network's need indicator score.  The indicator score is summed across all networks, and each network's relative proportion to that total is computed.

D)        The resulting percentage for each Regional Perinatal Network is applied to the total Preventive Services funds available to determine the allocation for each Regional Perinatal Network.

E)         * denotes Standardized Score (z Score)

4)         Requirements for Perinatal Centers and Level III facilities are included in Section 640.40(c) of this Part and include standards for medical eligibility for services.