In Ohio in 2011, treating infants born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) cost more than $70 million and 19,000 inpatient days. The NAS Project aims to increase identification of and compassionate withdrawal treatment for full-term infants born with NAS and reduce length of stay (LOS) across participating sites. This initiative was designed and piloted by the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative (OPQC), a statewide, multi-stakeholder network dedicated to improving perinatal health. Since its launch, teams have tested strategies for implementing treatment protocols to 55 Level 2 and Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Units’ (NICUs) across Ohio and disseminated identification protocols to 52 Level 1 hospitals.
In the next phase of project work, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and OPQC will complete an environmental scan to identify and develop best practices for optimizing infant/mother dyad peripartum and newborn care.
This project is funded by the Ohio Department of Medicaid and administered by the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. For more information about OPQC, please visit their website.
