The Hassan Neonatal Morbidity Composite Scale and Neonatal Length of Stay—A Validation Study

Objective Obstetric studies often report neonatal morbidity as a composite score. Composite scores can simplify data analysis when multiple outcomes of interest are present and allows researchers to conduct smaller, more manageable trials. The Hassan scale is a neonatal morbidity composite scale that assigns high scores to infants with multiple morbidities and low scores to infants without or with single morbidities. The objective of this study was to validate the association between scores on the Hassan scale and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) length of stay Study Design We conducted a cohort study of all infants born between 22 and 366/7 weeks' gestation and cared for within 419 neonatal units in the Pediatrix Medical Group between 1997 and 2018. Each infant was assigned a Hassan's score based on the number of neonatal morbidity events that occurred during the delivery hospitalization. The association between Hassan's scores and neonatal length of stay was evaluated using linear regression. Multivariable models were constructed to determine if the Hassan score was independently associated with neonatal length of stay. Results There were 760,037 infants included. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) gestational age of delivery was 34 (31, 35) weeks and the median (IQR) birth weight at delivery was 2,000 (1,503, 2,430) g. The median length of stay for infants discharged home was 17 (10–33) days. A Hassan's score was able to be assigned to 699,206 (92%) patients. Neonatal morbidities included in the Hassan scale were more common among infants born earlier in gestation. On adjusted analysis, the Hassan scale was found to be independently associated with neonatal length of stay (p < 0.001, coefficient = 10.4 days [95% confidence interval (CI): 10.3, 10.4 days]) with higher scores associated with longer lengths of stay. Conclusion The Hassan scale, more than a binary composite score, is able to differentiate preterm infants with prolonged hospitalizations from those with short hospitalizations. Key Points

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A High-Fidelity Model to Predict Length of Stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

INFORMS Journal on Computing ◽

10.1287/ijoc.2021.1062 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kanix Wang ◽

Walid Hussain ◽

John R. Birge ◽

Michael D. Schreiber ◽

Daniel Adelman

Keyword(s):

Length Of Stay ◽

Clinical Data ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Large Scale ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Clinical Analysis ◽

Healthcare Operations ◽

Lengths Of Stay ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Widespread Implementation

Having an interpretable, dynamic length-of-stay model can help hospital administrators and clinicians make better decisions and improve the quality of care. The widespread implementation of electronic medical record (EMR) systems has enabled hospitals to collect massive amounts of health data. However, how to integrate this deluge of data into healthcare operations remains unclear. We propose a framework grounded in established clinical knowledge to model patients’ lengths of stay. In particular, we impose expert knowledge when grouping raw clinical data into medically meaningful variables that summarize patients’ health trajectories. We use dynamic, predictive models to output patients’ remaining lengths of stay, future discharges, and census probability distributions based on their health trajectories up to the current stay. Evaluated with large-scale EMR data, the dynamic model significantly improves predictive power over the performance of any model in previous literature and remains medically interpretable. Summary of Contribution: The widespread implementation of electronic health systems has created opportunities and challenges to best utilize mounting clinical data for healthcare operations. In this study, we propose a new approach that integrates clinical analysis in generating variables and implementations of computational methods. This approach allows our model to remain interpretable to the medical professionals while being accurate. We believe our study has broader relevance to researchers and practitioners of healthcare operations.

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Decreasing hospital burden of COVID-19 during the first wave in Regione Lombardia: an emergency measures context

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11669-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Grosso Francesca Maria ◽

Presanis Anne Margaret ◽

Kunzmann Kevin ◽

Jackson Chris ◽

Corbella Alice ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Median Length ◽

Calendar Time ◽

Fatality Risk ◽

Lengths Of Stay ◽

Hospital Beds ◽

Hospital Patients ◽

Poor Outcomes ◽

Emergency Measures

Abstract Background The aim of this study is to quantify the hospital burden of COVID-19 during the first wave and how it changed over calendar time; to interpret the results in light of the emergency measures introduced to manage the strain on secondary healthcare. Methods This is a cohort study of hospitalised confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted from February–June 2020 and followed up till 17th July 2020, analysed using a mixture multi-state model. All hospital patients with confirmed COVID-19 disease in Regione Lombardia were involved, admitted from February–June 2020, with non-missing hospital of admission and non-missing admission date. Results The cohort consists of 40,550 patients hospitalised during the first wave. These patients had a median age of 69 (interquartile range 56–80) and were more likely to be men (60%) than women (40%). The hospital-fatality risk, averaged over all pathways through hospital, was 27.5% (95% CI 27.1–28.0%); and steadily decreased from 34.6% (32.5–36.6%) in February to 7.6% (6.3–10.6%) in June. Among surviving patients, median length of stay in hospital was 11.8 (11.6–12.3) days, compared to 8.1 (7.8–8.5) days in non-survivors. Averaged over final outcomes, median length of stay in hospital decreased from 21.4 (20.5–22.8) days in February to 5.2 (4.7–5.8) days in June. Conclusions The hospital burden, in terms of both risks of poor outcomes and lengths of stay in hospital, has been demonstrated to have decreased over the months of the first wave, perhaps reflecting improved treatment and management of COVID-19 cases, as well as reduced burden as the first wave waned. The quantified burden allows for planning of hospital beds needed for current and future waves of SARS-CoV-2 i.

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Evaluation and Development of Potentially Better Practices for Improving Family-Centered Care in Neonatal Intensive Care Units

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.111.se1.e437 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 111 (Supplement_E1) ◽

pp. e437-e449

Author(s):

Roger P. Saunders ◽

Marie R. Abraham ◽

Mary Jo Crosby ◽

Karen Thomas ◽

William H. Edwards

Keyword(s):

Length Of Stay ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Process Analysis ◽

Neonatal Morbidity ◽

Family Centered Care ◽

Psychosocial Needs ◽

Beliefs And Practices ◽

Centered Care ◽

The Impact ◽

Family Centered

Objective. Technological and scientific advances have progressively decreased neonatal morbidity and mortality. Less attention has been given to meeting the psychosocial needs of the infant and family than on meeting the infant’s physical needs. Parents’ participation in making decisions and caring for their child has often been limited. Environments designed for efficient technological care may not be optimal for nurturing the growth and development of sick neonates or their families. Eleven centers collaborating on quality improvement tried to make the care of families better by focusing on understanding and improving family-centered care. Methods. Through internal process analysis, review of the evidence, collaborative learning, and benchmarking site visits to centers of excellence in family-centered care, a list of potentially better practices was developed. Choice of which practices to implement and methods of implementation were center specific. Improvement goals were in 3 areas: parent-reported outcomes, staff beliefs and practices, and clinical outcomes in length of stay and feeding practices. Measurement tools for the first 2 areas were developed and pilots were conducted. Results. Length of stay and feeding outcomes were not different before the collaboration (1998) and at the formal end of the collaboration (2000). Conclusions. Prospective parent-reported outcomes are being collected, and the staff beliefs and practices questionnaire will be repeated in all centers to determine the impact of the project in those areas.

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Decreasing hospital burden of COVID-19 during the first wave in Regione Lombardia: an emergency measures context

10.21203/rs.3.rs-288193/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Francesca Maria Grosso ◽

Anne Margaret Presanis ◽

Kevin Kunzmann ◽

Chris Jackson ◽

Alice Corbella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Median Length ◽

Calendar Time ◽

Fatality Risk ◽

Lengths Of Stay ◽

Hospital Beds ◽

Hospital Patients ◽

Poor Outcomes ◽

Emergency Measures

Abstract Background: The aim of this study is to quantify the hospital burden of COVID-19 during the first wave and how it changed over calendar time; to interpret the results in light of the emergency measures introduced to manage the strain on secondary healthcare. Methods: This is a cohort study of hospitalised confirmed cases of COVID-19 admitted from February-June 2020 and followed up till 17th July 2020, analysed using a mixture multi-state model. All hospital patients with confirmed COVID-19 disease in Regione Lombardia were involved, admitted from February-June 2020, with non-missing hospital of admission and non-missing admission date.Results: The cohort consists of 40,550 patients hospitalised during the first wave. These patients had a median age of 69 (interquartile range 56-80) and were more likely to be men (60%) than women (40%). The hospital-fatality risk, averaged over all pathways through hospital, was 27.5% (95% CI 27.1-28.0%); and steadily decreased from 34.6% (32.5-36.6%) in February to 7.6% (6.3-10.6%) in June. Among surviving patients, median length of stay in hospital was 11.8 (11.6-12.3) days, compared to 8.1 (7.8-8.5) days in non-survivors. Averaged over final outcomes, median length of stay in hospital decreased from 21.4 (20.5-22.8) days in February to 5.2 (4.7-5.8) days in June.Conclusions: The hospital burden, in terms of both risks of poor outcomes and lengths of stay in hospital, has been demonstrated to have decreased over the months of the first wave, perhaps reflecting improved treatment and management of COVID-19 cases, as well as reduced burden as the first wave waned. The quantified burden allows for planning of hospital beds needed for current and future waves of SARS-CoV-2.

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1412. The utility of respiratory viral panel testing for nosocomial fever in the neonatal intensive care unit

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofaa439.1594 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S713-S713

Author(s):

Carlo Fopiano Palacios ◽

Eric Lemmon ◽

James Campbell

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care Unit ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Linear Regression ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

P Value ◽

Fisher Exact Test ◽

The Mean ◽

Pcr Test

Abstract Background Patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) often develop fevers during their inpatient stay. Many neonates are empirically started on antibiotics due to their fragile clinical status. We sought to evaluate whether the respiratory viral panel (RVP) PCR test is associated with use of antibiotics in patients who develop a fever in the NICU. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review on patients admitted to the Level 4 NICU of the University of Maryland Medical Center from November 2015 to June 2018. We included all neonates who developed a fever 48 hours into their admission. We collected demographic information and data on length of stay, fever work-up and diagnostics (including labs, cultures, RVP), and antibiotic use. Descriptive statistics, Fisher exact test, linear regression, and Welch’s ANOVA were performed. Results Among 347 fever episodes, the mean age of neonates was 72.8 ± 21.6 days, and 45.2% were female. Out of 30 total RVP samples analyzed, 2 were positive (6.7%). The most common causes of fever were post-procedural (5.7%), pneumonia (4.8%), urinary tract infection (3.5%), meningitis (2.6%), bacteremia (2.3%), or due to a viral infection (2.0%). Antibiotics were started in 208 patients (60%), while 61 neonates (17.6%) were already on antibiotics. The mean length of antibiotics was 7.5 ± 0.5 days. Neonates were more likely to get started on antibiotics if they had a negative RVP compared to those without a negative RVP (89% vs. 11%, p-value < 0.0001). Patients with a positive RVP had a decreased length of stay compared to those without a positive RVP (30.3 ± 8.7 vs. 96.8 ± 71.3, p-value 0.01). On multivariate linear regression, a positive RVP was not associated with length of stay. Conclusion Neonates with a negative respiratory viral PCR test were more likely to be started on antibiotics for fevers. Respiratory viral PCR testing can be used as a tool to promote antibiotic stewardship in the NICU. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

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Regional variation in cost of neonatal intensive care for extremely preterm infants

BMC Pediatrics ◽

10.1186/s12887-021-02600-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Asaph Rolnitsky ◽

David Urbach ◽

Sharon Unger ◽

Chaim M. Bell

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Preterm Infants ◽

Gestational Age ◽

Regional Variation ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Cost Optimization ◽

Program Cost ◽

Extremely Preterm ◽

Extremely Preterm Infants

Abstract Background Regional variation in cost of neonatal intensive care for extremely preterm infant is not documented. We sought to evaluate regional variation that may lead to benchmarking and cost saving. Methods An analysis of a Canadian national costing data from the payor perspective. We included all liveborn 23–28-week preterm infants in 2011–2015. We calculated variation in costs between provinces using non-parametric tests and a generalized linear model to evaluate cost variation after adjustment for gestational age, survival, and length of stay. Results We analysed 6932 infant records. The median total cost for all infants was $66,668 (Inter-Quartile Range (IQR): $4920–$125,551). Medians for the regions varied more than two-fold and ranged from $48,144 in Ontario to $122,526 in Saskatchewan. Median cost for infants who survived the first 3 days of life was $91,000 (IQR: $56,500–$188,757). Median daily cost for all infants was $1940 (IQR: $1518–$2619). Regional variation was significant after adjusting for survival more than 3 days, length of stay, gestational age, and year (pseudo-R2 = 0.9, p < 0.01). Applying the model on the second lowest-cost region to the rest of the regions resulted in a total savings of $71,768,361(95%CI: $65,527,634–$81,129,451) over the 5-year period ($14,353,672 annually), or over 11% savings for the total program cost of $643,837,303 over the study period. Conclusion Costs of neonatal intensive care are high. There is large regional variation that persists after adjustment for length of stay and survival. Our results can be used for benchmarking and as a target for focused cost optimization, savings, and investment in healthcare.

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Designing a bed-side system for predicting length of stay in a neonatal intensive care unit

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82957-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Harpreet Singh ◽

Su Jin Cho ◽

Shubham Gupta ◽

Ravneet Kaur ◽

S. Sunidhi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Financial Burden ◽

Significant Risk ◽

Model Performance ◽

Significant Risk Factor ◽

Validation Dataset ◽

Patient Records

AbstractIncreased length of stay (LOS) in intensive care units is directly associated with the financial burden, anxiety, and increased mortality risks. In the current study, we have incorporated the association of day-to-day nutrition and medication data of the patient during its stay in hospital with its predicted LOS. To demonstrate the same, we developed a model to predict the LOS using risk factors (a) perinatal and antenatal details, (b) deviation of nutrition and medication dosage from guidelines, and (c) clinical diagnoses encountered during NICU stay. Data of 836 patient records (12 months) from two NICU sites were used and validated on 211 patient records (4 months). A bedside user interface integrated with EMR has been designed to display the model performance results on the validation dataset. The study shows that each gestation age group of patients has unique and independent risk factors associated with the LOS. The gestation is a significant risk factor for neonates < 34 weeks, nutrition deviation for < 32 weeks, and clinical diagnosis (sepsis) for ≥ 32 weeks. Patients on medications had considerable extra LOS for ≥ 32 weeks’ gestation. The presented LOS model is tailored for each patient, and deviations from the recommended nutrition and medication guidelines were significantly associated with the predicted LOS.

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Analysis of the Effects of Applying Federal Diagnosis-Related Grouping (DRG) Guidelines to a Population of High-Risk Newborn Infants

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.76.1.104 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 76 (1) ◽

pp. 104-109

Author(s):

Ronald L. Poland ◽

Robert O. Bollinger ◽

Mary P. Bedard ◽

Sanford N. Cohen

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Geometric Mean ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Newborn Infants ◽

Frequency Distributions ◽

Federal Register ◽

Children's Hospital ◽

Lengths Of Stay ◽

Children’S Hospital

Length of stay data collected for high-risk newborn infants admitted to a tertiary care children's hospital neonatal unit over a 6-year period were compared with mean and outlier lengths of stay published in the Federal Register as part of a proposed system for prospective payment of hospital cost by diagnosis-related groupings (DRGs). We found that the classification system for newborns markedly underestimated the number of days required for the treatment of these infants. The use of the geometric mean instead of the arithmetic mean as the measure of central tendency was a significant contributor to the discrepancy, especially in those sub-groups with bimodal frequency distributions of lengths of stay. Another contributor to the discrepancy was the lack of inborn patients in the children's hospital cohort. The system of prospective payments, as outlined, does not take into account several factors that have a strong influence on length of stay such as birth weight (which requires more than three divisions to serve as an effective predictor), surgery, outborn status, and ventilation. Implementation of the system described in the Federal Register would severely discourage tertiary care referral hospitals from providing neonatal intensive care.

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Implementing Potentially Better Practices to Improve Neonatal Outcomes After Reducing Postnatal Dexamethasone Use in Infants Born Between 501 and 1250 Grams

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.111.se1.e534 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 111 (Supplement_E1) ◽

pp. e534-e541

Author(s):

Joseph W. Kaempf ◽

Betty Campbell ◽

Ronald S. Sklar ◽

Cindy Arduza ◽

Robert Gallegos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Ventilation ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Mortality Rate ◽

Length Of Stay ◽

Clinical Outcomes ◽

Airway Pressure ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Positive Airway Pressure ◽

Late Onset ◽

Late Onset Sepsis

Objective. The purpose of this article is to describe how a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) was able to reduce substantially the use of postnatal dexamethasone in infants born between 501 and 1250 g while at the same time implementing a group of potentially petter practices (PBPs) in an attempt to decrease the incidence and severity of chronic lung disease (CLD). Methods. This study was both a retrospective chart review and an ongoing multicenter evidence-based investigation associated with the Vermont Oxford Network Neonatal Intensive Care Quality Improvement Collaborative (NIC/Q 2000). The NICU specifically made the reduction of CLD and dexamethasone use a priority and thus formulated a list of PBPs that could improve clinical outcomes across 3 time periods: era 1, standard NICU care that antedated the quality improvement project; era 2, gradual implementation of the PBPs; and era 3, full implementation of the PBPs. All infants who had a birth weight between 501 and 1250 g and were admitted to the NICU during the 3 study eras were included (era 1, n = 134; era 2, n = 73; era 3, n = 83). As part of the NIC/Q 2000 process, the NICU implemented 3 primary PBPs to improve clinical outcomes related to pulmonary disease: 1) gentle, low tidal volume resuscitation and ventilation, permissive hypercarbia, increased use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure; 2) decreased use of postnatal dexamethasone; and 3) vitamin A administration. The total dexamethasone use, the incidence of CLD, and the mortality rate were the primary outcomes of interest. Secondary outcomes included the severity of CLD, total ventilator and nasal continuous positive airway pressure days, grades 3 and 4 intracranial hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, stages 3 and 4 retinopathy of prematurity, necrotizing enterocolitis, pneumothorax, length of stay, late-onset sepsis, and pneumonia. Results. The percentage of infants who received dexamethasone during their NICU admission decreased from 49% in era 1 to 22% in era 3. Of those who received dexamethasone, the median number of days of exposure dropped from 23.0 in era 1 to 6.5 in era 3. The median total NICU exposure to dexamethasone in infants who received at least 1 dose declined from 3.5 mg/kg in era 1 to 0.9 mg/kg in era 3. The overall amount of dexamethasone administered per total patient population decreased 85% from era 1 to era 3. CLD was seen in 22% of infants in era 1 and 28% in era 3, a nonsignificant increase. The severity of CLD did not significantly change across the 3 eras, neither did the mortality rate. We observed a significant reduction in the use of mechanical ventilation as well as a decline in the incidence of late-onset sepsis and pneumonia, with no other significant change in morbidities or length of stay. Conclusions. Postnatal dexamethasone use in premature infants born between 501 and 1250 g can be sharply curtailed without a significant worsening in a broad range of clinical outcomes. Although a modest, nonsignificant trend was observed toward a greater number of infants needing supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age, the severity of CLD did not increase, the mortality rate did not rise, length of stay did not increase, and other benefits such as decreased use of mechanical ventilation and fewer episodes of nosocomial infection were documented.

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