One in 10 babies in U.S. is pre-term. The medical cost of pre-term baby on an average is 10 times higher than healthy full-term baby. Providing a high touch care management program to expecting moms can significantly improve birth outcomes and lead to lowering healthcare costs.
Here are some facts about pre-term babies.
- The medical costs for both the mother and the baby were four times as high as they were when a mom had a healthy full-term infant.
- The costs for a healthy baby from birth to their first birthday were $4,551; for a pre-term baby the costs were $49,033.
- For full-term infants, costs were $15,047; for preemies, costs were $64,713 (outpatient visits, in-hospital care and prescriptions).
To reduce the risk of pre-term, here are key goals to focus on at every stage of birth and first years of life.
Preconception Care
Provide tools and resources to help women make positive health decisions. Would-be moms making good decisions can reduce the risk of pre-term deliveries. The following are a few care items to help achieve these goals.
- Assess health risks
- Targeted education
- Promotion of self-management
- 24/7 nurse access
- Facilitate access to other benefits
The author credits the material in this article to whitepapers from Optum. To download the detailed whitepaper please visit DistilNFO’s partner knowledge center DOWNLOAD NOW
OB Risk Assessment
Identify women with high-risk conditions through early and ongoing health risk assessment, engage with field resources and community health worker support and OB. The best place to deliver care is in the home.
Create an individualized plan of care and manage risks with evidence based care guidelines. Offering preventive well pregnancy care and collaboration with providers is critical. Other key areas to focus are:
- Facilitate access to other benefits
- Referral to community resources
- Delivery outcomes assessment
- Post-partum depression screening
- Referral for additional care, as needed
- 24/7 nurse access
First Year of Life
Pre-term babies and moms have a greater need for care in the first year of life and this leads to significant costs. The primary goal in the first year of life is to improve outcomes of infants admitted to the NICU or other special care unit. The key care items to focus on are:
- Experienced nursing and physician team
- Proprietary evidence based care guidelines
- Application of utilization principles to ensure appropriate care
- Collaboration with provider
- Individualized plan of care
- Onsite case and utilization
- Detailed family education
- Discharge planning and support
- Developmentally guided support
** The views expressed in this article are of the author and do not reflect the views of DistilNFO or Optum.
Date: November 25, 2015
Source: DistilNFO