Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
J Perinatol. 2021 Nov;41(11):2625-2630. doi: 10.1038/s41372-021-01158-8. Epub 2021 Jul 27.
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the delivery of follow-up care for high-risk infants. We performed an audit to characterize programmatic responses in a quality improvement network.
We audited 43 North American-based follow-up programs of the Vermont Oxford Network Extremely Low Birth Weight Follow-up Study Group in October, 2020. Our electronic survey included yes/no, agree/disagree, and free text response items.
The response rate was 67.4%. Most programs altered capacity and the timing, frequency, or content of clinical assessments. Most perceived practice changes compromised their ability to ascertain infants' medical and developmental needs. There was a rapid uptake of telemedicine services. Despite challenges with implementation, many endorsed improved connectedness with families.
Programs adapted rapidly to meet the needs of high-risk infants during the pandemic. Clinical operations, assessment procedures, and quality metrics will also need to evolve. Quality improvement study group collaboratives are well-positioned to coordinate such work.
COVID-19 大流行改变了高危婴儿的随访护理方式。我们进行了一次审核，以描述质量改进网络中的计划应对措施。
我们于 2020 年 10 月对参加佛蒙特州牛津网络极低出生体重随访研究组的 43 个北美随访项目进行了审核。我们的电子调查包括是/否、同意/不同意以及自由文本回答项。
回复率为 67.4%。大多数项目改变了能力以及临床评估的时间、频率或内容。大多数人认为实践的改变损害了他们确定婴儿医疗和发育需求的能力。远程医疗服务迅速普及。尽管实施过程中存在挑战，但许多人对与家庭的联系得到改善表示认可。
各项目在疫情期间迅速采取措施满足高危婴儿的需求。临床运营、评估程序和质量指标也将需要发展。质量改进研究组合作组织完全有能力协调此类工作。
