In the United States, preterm births account for 9.3% of all births. The majority of these births are considered late and moderate preterm (LMPT) – infants born 32 to <37 completed weeks gestation. Preterm infants are at increased risk for comorbidities both immediate and long-term. These infants often require services that go beyond typical well-child care, including frequent primary care visits, hospitalizations, multispecialty care visits, and early intervention services. Health care reform initiatives are increasingly calling for targeted management and system redesign for patients at risk for excessive health care use. Preterm infants might benefit from such a system redesign which would include timely management of acute and chronic conditions, developmental screening and intervention, proactive recognition of behavioral and other disorders, care coordination, and family support. This edition of Nutrition Focus will address follow-up care for the preterm infant and proposed system redesign. Key questions in that system redesign are how to smooth the transition from hospital to home, integrate care across systems, and provide support for feeding progression. A companion article (volume 32, number 3) explores nutrition and feeding issues for the premature infant after hospital discharge. Read more.... Follow-up Care for the Preterm Infant: A proposed system redesign
Subscription required to view the full newsletter