September 7, 2022
In the literature...
Length of Stay Among Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome and Risk of Hospital Readmission - Among infants with NAS, a LOS of 0–6 days was associated with a significantly higher risk of readmission within 2–42 days of discharge compared to a longer LOS.

Neonatal abstinence syndrome: Effectiveness of targeted umbilical cord drug screening - OBJECTIVE: This study sought to determine if targeted drug screening of newborns was effective in identifying a positive drug test result.
RESULT: The risk factor with the highest sensitivity was maternal history of drug use. The difference in the Finnegan scores between groups was statistically significant.
CONCLUSION: The risk factors associated with this study were not very sensitive. The only way to identify all infants at risk of NAS is to standardize the screening process and apply to all infants.

Gestational Buprenorphine Exposure Disrupts Dopamine Neuron Activity and Related Behaviors in Adulthood - The most prescribed treatment to combat maternal opioid use disorder is buprenorphine, a partial m-opioid receptor agonist and k-opioid receptor antagonist. Buprenorphine treatment effectively reduces NAS but has been associated with disrupted cortical development and neurodevelopmental consequences in childhood. Less is known about the long- term neurodevelopmental consequences following buprenorphine exposure in utero. Previous research has shown that gestational buprenorphine exposure can induce anxiety-like and depressive-like phenotypes in adult rats, sug- gesting that exposure to buprenorphine in utero may render individuals more susceptible to psychiatric illness in adulthood.
Register and Prepare for Learning Session 3

 It's time to begin working on your presentations for the Learning Session on October 27th. The session will be virtual and an opportunity for hospitals to highlight the successes and challenges of clOUDi to date. 

We have a template for hospital presentations - available here - allowing each team to report on the described activities. Key will be not just data but some report of the activities surrounding the reporting for metrics. Wins and persistent challenges you are confronting are all important elements of the clOUDI story. Please be willing to share all of these. We all teach, we all learn.
 
We hope we will see teams from all 53 clOUDi member hospitals on October 27th. Use the button below to register.
Register for the PQCNC Annual Meeting
Imagine an opportunity to hear the Deputy Secretary for Medicaid, Mr. Dave Richard, and Senior NC BCBS Leadership in the same room speaking to us all on the vision for Perinatal healthcare in North Carolina. 

Senator Joyce Krawiec, Co- Chair of the NC Senate Health Appropriations Committee, will be sharing her views on the opportunities and challenges facing NC in the coming years with respect to healthcare and mom-baby care in particular. 

Let’s add that given the challenges faced by our smaller community hospitals and perinatal practices, the places responsible for delivering care to a majority of mothers in North Carolina, we will be privileged to here a situation report from Dr. Paul Shackleford, a distinguished Obstetrician and VP for Medical Affairs at Vidant Health.

Finally, given PQCNC’s commitment to assisting in developing local leadership and Perinatal Quality Improvement Teams(PQITs), we are honored to be addressed by an Army senior enlisted officer with multiple deployments and combat experiences who watched and observed Obstetrical and Neonatal medical teams care for his wife and son over 8 months. He has some valuable lessons on leadership, teamwork and partnering with families to share with us!

And that is just the morning!

Then lunch with...of course...Moes.

The afternoon will be dedicated to presentations of proposed initiatives to be undertaken in January 2024! There is still time to propose a project -
but those proposing initiatives will present and answer your questions. Then we will vote!!!

This is an action packed day no one involved with PQCNC Will wasn’t to miss. Mark your calendars for September 29th at the McKimmon Center. 
Upcoming Programs of Interest!

Perinatal Substance Use Collaborative Webinar Series  
  • 2nd Friday of each month through May 12th from 12:30pm-1:30pm
This program is free
 
Perinatal Substance Exposure Education (PSEED) in Tailored Care Management
  • September 9th & September 16th from 2:00pm-3:30pm
Spokes Discount Code: CARA69346-121-100%OFF
 
6th Annual Perinatal Substance Exposure Summit
  • October 28th & November 4th from 8:00am-12:30pm
Spokes Discount Code: OAK68533-121-100%OFF
PQCNC wants to visit you!
In addition to newsletters and phone calls the PQCNC team is also available to visit in person -  

A PQCNC team visit can help move your facility forward in an initiative by

  •  helping with team building and member recruitment
  • speaking with staff to promote understanding of initiatives and process change 
  •  assisting in brainstorming ideas around data collection and entry
  •  engaging hospital administration in the work involved in an initiative
  •  reviewing work completed providing feedback
  •  observing workflow to aid in full adoption of a process change
  •  or anything else you need

Below are dates that we are available to visit your facility - use the button that follows to reserve your date.

  • September 15
  • October 12
  • October 24
  • November 3 
  • November 14
  • December 7 
  • December 15
If a different date is more appropriate, please let us know.
Contact me!
OK KMC
Keith M Cochran
984-974-7871

'Unoffice' hours - click here to schedule a Zoom meeting