Makkar, Abhishek

Background: Approximately 50,000 neonates weighing under 1,500 grams are born annually in the United States, with 15–20% delivered in smaller community hospitals without a neonatal intensive care unit. These “outborn” infants face higher risks of adverse outcomes due to limited resources. Implementing tele-resuscitation services with targeted training workshops may enhance providers’ technical skills, confidence, and perceptions of feasibility and acceptability. Methods: In January 2023, Oklahoma Children’s Hospital launched a tele-resuscitation program offering real-time, audio-video support to community hospital staff. This service targeted neonates ≤32 weeks’ gestation, <1,500 g, and those >32 weeks requiring advanced resuscitation. Workshops were hosted to give community hospital providers a first hand experience with the technology, and it included background on tele-resuscitation, technical skills training, and neonatal resuscitation simulations incorporating telemedicine. Pre- and postworkshop surveys with Likert scale questions assessed attendees’ confidence in advanced resuscitation and feasibility of integrating tele-resuscitation into practice. Results: Briefly, 20 community providers attended two interprofessional workshops, including 5 physicians (25%), 11 nurses (55%), and 4 respiratory therapists (20%). One-quarter of attendees reported prior experience with telemedicine, and one attendee reported prior experience with tele-resuscitation. Following the workshops, participant confidence in performing tasks such as intubation, umbilical line placement, needle thoracentesis, and debriefing increased significantly ( p < 0.001 for all procedures). While ratings for the appeal and applicability of telemedicine to their practice showed no significant changes ( p = 0.267 and p = 0.056, respectively), the perceived feasibility of tele-resuscitation significantly improved after the workshop ( p = 0.029). Conclusions: Neonatal tele-resuscitation workshops improved providers’ perceptions of this service and increased their acceptance of such a program. Additionally, the skill sessions and simulated resuscitations increased their confidence with procedures commonly performed during advanced neonatal resuscitation.

Background/Aims: Clinical trials evaluating facility-to-facility telemedicine may include sites that have limited research experience. For the trial to be successful, these sites must correctly perform research-related tasks. This study aimed to determine whether health care professionals at community hospitals could accurately identify simulated study eligible patients and submit data to a research coordinating center. Methods: Twenty-seven community hospitals in the United States and Canada participated in this study. An electronic survey was sent to one designated health care professional at each site. The survey included a description of trial eligibility criteria and five written neonatal resuscitation scenarios. For each scenario, the participant determined whether the neonate was study eligible. One scenario required participants to submit 14 data elements to the coordinating center. Accuracy of study eligibility and data submission was summarized using standard descriptive statistics. Results: The survey response rate was 100% (27/27). Overall accuracy in determining study eligibility was 89% (120/135), and accuracy varied across the five scenarios (range 82–93%). Overall accuracy of data submission was 92% (310/336). Data were >95% accurate for 9 of the 14 data elements, with 100% accuracy achieved for 6 data elements. These results were used to clarify eligibility criteria, inform database design, and improve training materials for the subsequent clinical trial. Conclusions: Health care professionals at community hospitals accurately determined trial eligibility and submitted study data based on written clinical scenarios. Research teams conducting telemedicine trials with community hospitals should consider completing pre-trial simulation activities to identify opportunities for improving trial processes and materials.

Objective We aimed to measure provider perspectives on the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and community hospitals. Study Design Providers from five academic tertiary NICUs and 27 community hospitals were surveyed using validated implementation measures to assess the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology. For each of the 12 statements, scale values ranged from 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater positive perceptions. Survey results were summarized, and differences across respondents assessed using generalized linear models. Results The survey response rate was 56% (203/365). Respondents found teleneonatology to be acceptable, appropriate, and feasible. The percent of respondents who agreed with each of the twelve statements ranged from 88.6 to 99.0%, with mean scores of 4.4 to 4.7 and median scores of 4.0 to 5.0. There was no difference in the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology when analyzed by professional role, years of experience in neonatal care, or years of teleneonatology experience. Respondents from Level I well newborn nurseries had greater positive perceptions of teleneonatology than those from Level II special care nurseries. Conclusion Providers in tertiary NICUs and community hospitals perceive teleneonatology to be highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible for their practices. The wide acceptance by providers of all roles and levels of experience likely demonstrates a broad receptiveness to telemedicine as a tool to deliver neonatal care, particularly in rural communities where specialists are unavailable. Key Points

Objective We aimed to measure provider perspectives on the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and community hospitals. Study Design Providers from five academic tertiary NICUs and 27 community hospitals were surveyed using validated implementation measures to assess the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology. For each of the 12 statements, scale values ranged from 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree), with higher scores indicating greater positive perceptions. Survey results were summarized, and differences across respondents assessed using generalized linear models. Results The survey response rate was 56% (203/365). Respondents found teleneonatology to be acceptable, appropriate, and feasible. The percent of respondents who agreed with each of the twelve statements ranged from 88.6 to 99.0%, with mean scores of 4.4 to 4.7 and median scores of 4.0 to 5.0. There was no difference in the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of teleneonatology when analyzed by professional role, years of experience in neonatal care, or years of teleneonatology experience. Respondents from Level I well newborn nurseries had greater positive perceptions of teleneonatology than those from Level II special care nurseries. Conclusion Providers in tertiary NICUs and community hospitals perceive teleneonatology to be highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible for their practices. The wide acceptance by providers of all roles and levels of experience likely demonstrates a broad receptiveness to telemedicine as a tool to deliver neonatal care, particularly in rural communities where specialists are unavailable. Key Points