Description and evaluation of a program for the early discharge of infants from a neonatal intensive care unit☆,☆☆,★,★★
Section snippets
Subjects
All patients discharged from the NICU at the University Hospital after June 1, 1993, were incorporated in the early discharge program. For detailed analyses, only data on patients discharged home from the unit before January 1, 1994, were used. These data were compared with those generated by a similar group of surviving infants selected from all infants discharged between April 1, 1992, and April 1, 1993, before program initiation. Early-discharge planning strategies were being tested during
Patient population
There were no significant differences in race and sex distributions, average birth weights, gestational ages, days in oxygen, days of ventilator use, or any of the other variables listed in Table I when infants discharged in the control and study periods were compared. Similarly, the percentages of infants who died, or of infants who survived to be transferred to other nurseries before discharge home, were not significantly different (Table I). There was no difference in birth weight
DISCUSSION
This report documents that infants in an inner city neonatal intensive care nursery can be discharged earlier and at lower body weights than previously was considered appropriate in the community. The difference in periods of study and control groups, however, does not eliminate the possibility of seasonal differences in outcome between groups. The reduction in hospital days was associated with a decrease in ancillary resource utilization, which is a significant contributor to the high cost of
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Cited by (0)
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From the Pediatric Quality Outcomes Research Group, the Center for Clinical Effectiveness, and the Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research, University of Cincinnati and Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Supported by Children's Hospital Research Foundation and the Institute for Health Policy and Health Services, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Reprint requests: Uma R. Kotagal, MBBS, College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 670541, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0541.
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0022-3476/95/$3.00 + 0 9/23/65421