CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Premier Inc. has introduced a new data-driven index designed to better identify pregnant patients at risk for severe maternal complications, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.
The maternal Prenatal Risk Index, or m-PRI, was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health and is intended to provide clinicians with a more precise way to assess risk before complications occur.
The study analyzed more than 7.1 million inpatient delivery hospitalizations between 2016 and 2023 across 864 hospitals in 49 states, drawing on Premier’s Healthcare Database. Researchers evaluated 46 potential risk factors and incorporated 28 conditions into the final model.
Unlike traditional scoring systems that treat all complications equally, the new index weights prenatal risk factors based on how strongly they are linked to severe maternal morbidity and mortality, allowing for more targeted and actionable risk assessments.
“One of the biggest gaps in maternal health has been consistency in how we define risk, how we measure it and how we act on it,” said Angela Lanning, chief operating officer of healthcare informatics and technology services at Premier. “This new index creates a common, data-driven standard, giving providers the insight to know not just whether risk exists but how severe that risk may be.”
Among the millions of deliveries studied, more than 56,000 patients experienced at least one severe maternal morbidity event. Conditions such as placenta accreta spectrum, chronic kidney disease, and acquired cardiac disease were among those most strongly associated with higher risk.
The m-PRI demonstrated stronger predictive performance than the existing Obstetric Comorbidity Scoring System across multiple patient groups. Researchers found that 97% of patients who experienced severe complications had a measurable risk score under the new model.
“For too long, we’ve treated complications in pregnancy after they happen,” said David Zito, president of performance services at Premier. “This index is about getting ahead of risk more quickly and with clearer insight into who most needs intervention.”
The index is designed for both prospective use during pregnancy and retrospective analysis to identify gaps in care, with the goal of improving outcomes for mothers and infants.
The study builds on a broader federal initiative connecting more than 250 hospitals to standardize data and improve maternal and infant health outcomes nationwide.
