YALE NEW HAVEN CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AWARDED FOR PROJECT TO REDUCE UNNECESSARY TESTING IN NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNITS
CHA Recognizes Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital With the 2023 John D. Thompson Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare Through the Use of Data
WALLINGFORD – The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) awarded Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital (YNHCH) the 2023 John D. Thompson Award for Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare Through the Use of Data for its NICU Network Project to Reduce Potentially Unnecessary Testing. Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital was presented with the prestigious award at the 2023 CHA Annual Meeting that took place on June 15, 2023 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.
The award recognizes the hospital’s work across a network of neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) to reduce potentially unnecessary laboratory and diagnostic imaging testing and address the potentially short- and long-term adverse effects of this testing on a highly vulnerable patient population.
“It’s an honor to present this award in recognition of the innovative and life-changing care provided by Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital,” said Jennifer Jackson, CEO, CHA. “The team behind this project successfully used data to rethink and inform care decisions to reduce potentially unnecessary invasive testing on infants in the NICU. An interactive dashboard was built to assess data with accuracy and insight, and they used that data to inform and inspire action and change. Congratulations to the entire Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital team.”
“We are extremely honored to have been selected by CHA for this prestigious award,” said Matthew Bizzarro, MD, medical director, YNHCH NICU Network, professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine. “Our team understands the value of collaboration and the use of data to drive change and innovation. We set out to determine if fewer tests could be safely performed in our most vulnerable patient population without negatively impacting their care and, in turn, could reduce the potential short- and long-term harm associated with repeated painful needle sticks, blood loss and radiation exposure. We were able to surpass our expectations, successfully implement our model and replicate our outcomes across several NICUs. We hope that this work paves the way for similar efforts in other inpatient and outpatient care areas and patient populations.”
The John D. Thompson Award was established in 1994 to honor the contributions made by John D. Thompson to healthcare administration and patient care quality during his career. Recipients are selected based on how the hospital or healthcare system successfully improved patient care due to a modification in process as substantiated through the use of data.
Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital is recognized for its work responding to mounting evidence that repeated pain and stress from tests and procedures in preterm infants can result in serious long-term growth and neurodevelopmental impairments, a risk of future anxiety and depression, as well as lifelong impairments in pain processing. The hospital sought to first analyze the number of tests being performed in their NICU and then to design interventions to limit those potentially unnecessary for clinical care and decision making. The project involved consulting with the hospital’s NICU family advisory council to gain important insight on patients and families.
Over a six-year period, the three NICUs involved performed approximately 177,750 fewer blood tests (39% reduction from baseline), 1,551 fewer diagnostic imaging studies (15% reduction), saved 26.7 liters of blood (the entire blood volume of approximately 315 infants weighing 1,000 grams), reduced radiation exposure by 373 mSv (1 mSv is the safe annual allowance of radiation exposure for a child), and saved approximately $2 million in direct laboratory costs.
CHA congratulates the entire Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital NICU Quality Improvement Project team members, including Christopher J. Klunk, MD, MS; Renee E. Barrett, MD; Steven M. Peterec, MD; Eleanor Blythe, PA; Renee Brockett APRN; Marta Kenney, RN; Amber Natusch, RN; Caitlin Thursland, RN; Patrick G. Gallagher, MD; Richard Pando; and Matthew J. Bizzarro, MD.
Learn more about the program by watching a video about the award-winning initiative here.
Left to right: Christopher O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer and President, Yale New Haven Health; Lindsey Garcia, DNP, MBA, MS, RN, CENP, Director of Neonatal ICU Services at Yale New Haven Health; Matthew Bizzarro, MD NICU Network Medical Director, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs, Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine; Steven M. Peterec, MD, Associate Director, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, YNHCH Pediatrics; Director, NICU Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), Professor of Clinical Pediatrics (Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine), Yale School of Medicine
