Clinical trial NCT01091688: The Impact of Just-in-time Information on Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Discharges
Official title: The Impact of "Just-in-time" Information on NICU Discharges
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Patient Discharge
Keywords: neonatal
discharge planning
health transition
educational needs assessment
Intensive care, neonatal
Lead sponsor: Baylor College of Medicine
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
First posted: 2010-03-24
Enrollment: 229
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

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.

Eligibility criteria: 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.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Adverse events
timeFrame: 6 months from hospital discharge
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Physician comfort levels
timeFrame: 1 year
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Houston
country: United States
facility: Newborn Center, Texas Children's Hospital
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Baylor College of Medicine
name: Virginia A Moyer, MD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: