Sj. Bachrach et al., EARLY TRANSFER TO A REHABILITATION HOSPITAL FOR INFANTS WITH CHRONIC BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA, Clinical pediatrics, 32(9), 1993, pp. 535-541
Shortly after being weaned off the respirator, 43 infants with severe
chronic bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) were transferred from an inte
nsive-care nursery at a teaching hospital to an affiliated children's
rehabilitation hospital in a program that included special staff instr
uction. Morbidity, measured by rate of transfer back to the acute-care
hospital, was lower than in a comparison group of 15 infants treated
for severe BPD during the previous two years. Average length of stay w
as significantly shortened and an average of $60,000 per patient was s
aved. Using a rehabilitation hospital as a step-down unit shifts the e
mphasis from acute needs to chronic and developmental needs and from i
ntensive monitoring and nursing care to care given at home by parents
with nursing assistance.