Changes in cesarean section rates after introduction of a punitive financial policy in Georgia: A population-based registry study 2017-2019.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is little research on how financial incentives and penalties impact national cesarean section rates. In January 2018, Georgia introduced a national cesarean section reduction policy, which imposes a financial penalty on hospitals that do not meet their reduction targets. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of this policy on cesarean section rates, subgroups of women, and selected perinatal outcomes.

Methods

We included women who gave birth from 2017 to 2019 registered in the Georgian Birth Registry (n = 150 534, nearly 100% of all births in the country during this time). We then divided the time period into pre-policy (January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017) and post-policy (January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019). An interrupted time series analysi

SUBMITTER: Nedberg IH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9295975 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature