Newborn Clinic: A Novel Model to Provide Timely, Comprehensive Care to Newborns Following Nursery Discharge. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Glassman, Melissa E.; Diamond, Rebekah; Won, Sharon K.; Johal, Jasmyn; Sirota, Dana R.
• Is Part Of: Clinical pediatrics. Volume 59:Number 14(2020)
• Page Start: 1233
• Page End: 1239
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: newborn -- follow-up -- jaundice -- quality of care -- discharge; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; 618.920005
• DOI: 10.1177/0009922820944400
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-9228

Abstract

Ensuring safe and timely follow-up after well baby nursery (WBN) discharge is an ongoing challenge. This study demonstrates the efficacy of a novel model for follow-up, the Newborn Clinic (NBC), in reducing time to outpatient follow-up after WBN discharge. Our retrospective chart review of 17 952 newborns found that time to follow-up visit decreased significantly following NBC establishment. Emergency department visits, a marker of infant morbidity, were slightly increased in the post-establishment cohort. There was no difference, however, in hospital readmissions. Analysis within the post-establishment cohort showed that newborns with jaundice, a high-risk group, were much more likely to have early follow-up if their visit was scheduled with NBC. Our study demonstrates that NBC is an effective model for decreasing time from WBN discharge to follow-up visit. It should be considered as an initiative to run concurrently with expedited newborn discharge initiatives so that safe follow-up need not be sacrificed.