Patient Discharge
Conditions
Keywords
neonatal, discharge planning, health transition, educational needs assessment, Intensive care, neonatal
Brief summary
We, the investigators, will provide Just-in-Time information, physician educational material, to primary care pediatricians of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates at the time of NICU discharge. We will follow the rate of adverse events (deaths, re-hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and missed appointments) for 6 months after NICU discharge. We will assess levels of physician comfort in caring for NICU specific diseases, as well as physician satisfaction with the discharge process. We hypothesize that the provision of Just-in-Time information will decrease the rate of adverse events, and make physicians more comfortable in caring for complicated NICU graduates, and more satisfied with the discharge process.
Detailed description
The purpose of this protocol is to evaluate the impact of providing Just-in-Time information, or physician educational material at the time of discharge, to primary care pediatricians caring for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates. The material provided will be tailored to the needs of each infant. The educational material will be sent to the physicians via email and facsimile on the day of discharge, and a hard copy will be sent with the parents to bring to their first clinic appointment. Outcomes, including emergency room visits, hospital readmissions, deaths, missed appointments, and improvements in care in the areas of intervention will be assessed. Levels of physician comfort in caring for various disorders specific to NICU graduates will be assessed, and satisfaction with the discharge process will also be evaluated pre- and post- intervention.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALJust-in-Time information
Infants and physicians assigned to the intervention group will receive Just-in-Time information at the time of NICU discharge, by email and facsimile, and the parents will receive a copy to bring to their first clinic appointment.
Sponsors
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Virginia Moyer
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Pediatric care providers will be identified when they accept into their practices babies who are part of a related study of an enhanced discharge process in the Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) NICU (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01088945) * Participating providers must be part of Texas Children's Pediatrics Associates (TCPA), or accept Texas Children's Health Plan (TCHP) insurance.
Exclusion criteria
* Providers who are not part of Texas Children's Pediatrics Associates (TCPA), or do not accept Texas Children's Health Plan (TCHP) insurance.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Adverse events | 6 months from hospital discharge | The rates of death, rehospitalization, emergency room visits, and missed appointments will be calculated for infants in the first 6 months after discharge from the NICU. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Physician comfort levels | 1 year | Physicians will complete pre- and post- intervention surveys that consist of 5-point Likert scales that measure comfort levels with various disorders specific to former premature infants. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed