The impact of telemedicine on the quality of newborn resuscitation: A retrospective study

Abstract

Objective: We hypothesized that telemedicine consults provided by neonatologists to local care teams (termed teleneonatology) would improve the quality of high-risk newborn resuscitations that occur in community hospitals.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study compared 47 newborns who received a teleneonatology consult during their resuscitation at a community hospital to 45 controls who did not. Controls were matched on gestational age, sex, admission diagnosis, and level of newborn care. A two-person expert panel blinded to the intervention reviewed demographic and resuscitation data for each patient and assigned a resuscitation quality rating using a 1-10 descriptive rating scale. Paired comparisons between groups were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed rank test for continuous measures and the McNemar's test for dichotomous measures.

Results: The median resuscitation quality rating was 7 for the teleneonatology group and 4 for the control group, with a median difference of 1 between matched pairs (P = .002). Neonates who received a teleneonatology consult were more likely to undergo measurement of temperature, glucose, and blood gases. When analyzing the 35 matched pairs that had a consult within one hour of birth, the positive impact of teleneonatology was greater (median rating 8 vs 4, median difference 2, P = .003). Subgroup analysis demonstrated teleneonatology significantly improved the resuscitation of preterm neonates (median rating 8 vs 4, median difference 1.5, P = .004) CONCLUSION: Teleneonatology improves the quality of high-risk newborn resuscitations that occur in community hospitals and increases adherence to process metrics. Earlier teleneonatology consults appear to have greater positive impact.

Keywords: Newborn resuscitation; Preterm birth; Telemedicine; Teleneonatology.