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Regionalization of infant transports: the southern California experience and its implications. I: Referral pattern
Insights
Southern California
Area of Science:
- Neonatal intensive care
- Perinatal regionalization
- Infant transport services
Background:
- Neonatal intensive care services are crucial for perinatal regionalization.
- Transporting critically ill infants to specialized units improves outcomes.
- This study analyzes 10 years of infant transport data in Southern California.
Purpose of the Study:
- To profile Southern California's infant transport experience from 1979-1988.
- To identify critical issues for neonatal services in the 1990s.
- To examine transport volume, referrals, distance, patterns, and birth weights.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 10-year infant transport data (1979-1988).
- Examination of key indicators: volume, cross-county referrals, distance, referral patterns, birth weight patterns.
Main Results:
- The study profiles Southern California's decade-long infant transport experience.
- Identified key indicators include transport volume, referral patterns, and birth weights.
Conclusions:
- Urgent attention is needed for neonatal services in the 1990s.
- Key issues include bed capacity, referral practices, maternal-fetal transports, financing, and morbidity/mortality rates.
Abstract:
The development and implementation of neonatal intensive care services have been essential components of perinatal regionalization during the past two decades. The transport of critically ill infants to regional neonatal intensive care units has played an important role in improving neonatal outcome. This article presents a profile of Southern California's 10-year infant transport experience (1979 through 1988) in terms of the following indicators: transport volume, cross-county referrals, distance travelled, referral pattern, and birth weight pattern. Findings point to the necessity of focusing attention on several critical issues confronting Southern California's neonatal services in the 1990s. They include adequacy of tertiary or intermediate bed capacity in neonatal intensive care units; appropriateness of existing infant referral practices; impact of maternal-fetal transports; availability of financing resources; and overall differences in morbidity and mortality rates between transported and nontransported infants in subpopulations.