Rear Admiral Dr Wanda Barfield: How CDC's LOCATe Tool Assesses Risk-Appropriate Care

Transcript

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designeed LOCATe, a tool to help identify a facility's level of maternal and neonatal care. Can you discuss this tool and how it works to assess risk-appropriate care? What outcomes have you seen after the utilization of the LOCATe tool, and how does it improve maternal and child health?

So, the LOCATe tool is just that, it's a tool that helps public health leaders, as well as providers, to identify appropriate levels of care. It's an opportunity to utilize it on a broader scale, and to make general assessments about whether facilities are a certain level. If they're within a certain level, are they able to provide care appropriate for the population that they're serving.

LOCATe is an opportunity for health departments, as well as clinical providers, to assess the levels of care. That includes equipment, facilities, it also includes the skills within a particular facility to see whether it's a highest level of care, or a more basic level of care.