“Outside the Box” Programs Can Benefit Patients

A recent HealthLeaders Media article profiles the Centering Healthcare Institute’s CEO and President Sharon Schindler Rising and her "outside the box" approach to healthcare. Rising developed the Centering model of group healthcare and piloted the first CenteringPregnancy model in 1993 as a nurse midwife.

In Rising’s model, eight to twelve pregnant women with similar gestational ages meet 10 times in a group, receiving the same information and exams they would get in traditional prenatal care, but in a community setting. The program was popular with patients and providers, Rising told HealthLeaders. The Centering model has since received national recognition in research studies and CMS grants to create sites across the country.

Providing prenatal care in groups completely "disrupts" the normal model of healthcare delivery and Rising told HealthLeaders that many health systems are not ready for that kind of change. She is working not only to promote Centering, but also to change health systems and believes the time is right for “disruption” to the system, particularly with the relatively new emphasis placed on patient satisfaction and engagement, and patient-centered medical homes.