The Improving Care Transitions for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Graduates (NICU Graduates) project seeks to implement a two-year quality improvement (QI) initiative to improve the transition from the NICU to home for infants with complex health care needs and/or technology dependence.
The NICU Graduates project seeks to create a family-centered care approach that seamlessly integrates the transition from NICU to home care to promote the well-being of newborns and families. The specific goals of the project include:
- Reducing the average NICU length of stay by 10%;
- Reducing discharge delays to Institutional Level of Home Care by 10%;
- Reducing unplanned hospital readmissions by 20%; and
- Improving care coordination for services such as doctors’ visits and immunizations by 10%.
To accomplish these objectives, the NICU Graduates project will collaborate with health care experts, neonatal care serving entities, state health leaders, stakeholders, and families to develop and test a QI toolkit. The QI toolkit will aim to increase adherence to best practices for integrated care coordination and support parents and caregivers by providing family-centered care and education.
This QI initiative will target 300 infants over 2 years in select Level III NICUs to enhance practice awareness and care coordination and develop guidelines and identify best practices for a family-centered care approach.
This project is funded by the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
