Implementation methods for delivery room management: a quality improvement comparison study.

BACKGROUND: There is little evidence to compare the effectiveness of large collaborative quality improvement versus individual local projects. METHODS: This was a prospective pre-post intervention study of neonatal resuscitation practice, comparing 3 groups of nonrandomized hospitals in the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative: (1) collaborative, hospitals working together through face-to-face meetings, webcasts, electronic mailing list, and data sharing; (2) individual, hospitals working independently; and (3) nonparticipant hospitals. The collaborative and individual arms participated in improvement activities, focusing on reducing hypothermia and invasive ventilatory support. RESULTS: There were 20 collaborative, 31 individual, and 44 nonparticipant hospitals caring for 12,528 eligible infants. Each group had reduced hypothermia from baseline to postintervention. The collaborative group had the most significant decrease in hypothermia, from 39% to 21%, compared with individual hospital efforts of 38% to 33%, and nonparticipants of 42% to 34%. After risk adjustment, the collaborative group had twice the magnitude of decrease in rates of newborns with hypothermia compared with the other groups. Collaborative improvement also led to greater decreases in delivery room intubation (53% to 40%) and surfactant administration (37% to 20%). CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative efforts resulted in larger improvements in delivery room outcomes and processes than individual efforts or nonparticipation. These findings have implications for planning quality improvement projects for implementation of evidence-based practices.

A quality improvement project to increase breast milk use in very low birth weight infants.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a multihospital collaborative designed to increase breast milk feeding in premature infants. METHODS: Eleven NICUs in the California Perinatal Quality of Care Collaborative participated in an Institute for Healthcare Improvement-style collaborative to increase NICU breast milk feeding rates. Multiple interventions were recommended with participating sites implementing a self-selected combination of these interventions. Breast milk feeding rates were compared between baseline (October 2008-September 2009), implementation (October 2009-September 2010), and sustainability periods (October 2010-March 2011). Secondary outcome measures included necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) rates and lengths of stay. California Perinatal Quality of Care Collaborative hospitals not participating in the project served as a control population. RESULTS: The breast milk feeding rate in the intervention sites improved from baseline (54.6%) to intervention period (61.7%; P = .005) with sustained improvement over 6 months postintervention (64.0%; P = .003). NEC rates decreased from baseline (7.0%) to intervention period (4.3%; P = .022) to sustainability period (2.4%; P < .0001). Length of stay increased during the intervention but returned to baseline levels in the sustainability period. Control hospitals had higher rates of breast milk feeding at baseline (64.2% control vs 54.6% participants, P < .0001), but over the course of the implementation (65.7% vs 61.7%, P = .049) and sustainability periods (67.7% vs 64.0%, P = .199), participants improved to similar rates as the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a breast milk/nutrition change package by an 11-site collaborative resulted in an increase in breast milk feeding and decrease in NEC that was sustained over an 18-month period.

Cesarean delivery rates and neonatal morbidity in a low-risk population.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the relationship between case-mix adjusted cesarean delivery rates and neonatal morbidity and mortality in infants born to low-risk mothers. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used vital and administrative data for 748,604 California singletons born without congenital abnormalities in 1998-2000. A total of 282 institutions was classified as average-, low-, or high-cesarean delivery hospitals based on their cesarean delivery rate for mothers without a previous cesarean delivery, in labor at term, with no evidence of maternal, fetal, or placental complications. Neonatal mortality, diagnoses, and therapeutic interventions determined by International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification codes, and neonatal length of stay were compared across these hospital groupings. RESULTS: Compared with average-cesarean delivery-rate hospitals, infants born to low-risk mothers at low-cesarean delivery hospitals had increased fetal hemorrhage, birth asphyxia, meconium aspiration syndrome, feeding problems, and electrolyte abnormalities (P <.02). Infused medication, pressors, transfusion for shock, mechanical ventilation, and length of stay were also increased (P <.001). This suggests that some infants born in low-cesarean delivery hospitals might have benefited from cesarean delivery. Infants delivered at high-cesarean delivery hospitals demonstrated increased fetal hemorrhage, asphyxia, birth trauma, electrolyte abnormalities, and use of mechanical ventilation (P <.001), suggesting that high cesarean delivery rates themselves are not protective. CONCLUSION: Neonatal morbidity is increased in infants born to low-risk women who deliver at both low- and high-cesarean delivery-rate hospitals. The quality of perinatal care should be assessed in these outlier hospitals. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III