SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Cost Reduction at a Safety Net Community Hospital

Pdf Summary

This document describes a quality improvement project at Tufts Children’s Hospital and Lawrence General Hospital aimed at reducing costs and improving care for newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a condition caused by in utero opioid exposure. NAS has become increasingly common and is associated with prolonged hospital stays, higher costs, and frequent need for medication.<br /><br />The project tested whether standardized, evidence-based nonpharmacologic care strategies—similar to those used successfully in large tertiary centers—could work in a safety-net community hospital with limited resources. The intervention included care navigation, education, and standardized approaches to managing NAS.<br /><br />The results showed substantial improvements. Pharmacologic treatment dropped from 87% to 40%, and use of adjunctive medications such as phenobarbital or clonidine fell from 16% to 4%. Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admissions declined from 89% to 53%. Length of stay decreased from 17.5 days to 8 days, and average hospital cost per infant fell from $23,025 to $8,876. The estimated cost savings were about $14,149 per infant, or $778,000 over the 28-month intervention period.<br /><br />The authors conclude that implementing standardized evidence-based NAS care in community hospitals can meaningfully reduce medication use, NICU admissions, length of stay, and overall cost. Because most pediatric hospitalizations occur outside freestanding children’s hospitals, spreading these strategies to community settings could have a large public health impact.

Asset Subtitle

nan

Meta Tag

Author List Dan Hale, Heather Topp, Shira Pedan, Audra Williams, Tuhrin Roy, Daniel Rauch, Jana C. Leary, Nina Dadlez, Brian Collins, Raja Senguttuvan

Category Research

Concept Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Concept Prenatal Substance Exposure

Concept Newborn Withdrawal

Concept Non-Pharmacologic Care

Concept Evidence-Based Care Bundle

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Portsmouth Regional Hospital

Presenting Author Dan Hale

Track Pediatric

Keywords

neonatal abstinence syndrome

NAS

opioid exposure

quality improvement

nonpharmacologic care

pharmacologic treatment

NICU admissions

length of stay

hospital costs

community hospital

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Prenatal Substance Exposure

Newborn Withdrawal

Non-Pharmacologic Care

Evidence-Based Care Bundle