NAT is TCHMB's largest Statewide Initiative to Date

The Newborn Temperature Admission (NAT) Project posted new data from the Jan.-March reporting period, showing a majority of hospitals participating, the largest initiative in TCHMB’s history. When the April-June 2022 data is complete (due July 31st), the hospital level data will be shared back via the dashboard. The hospital level dashboard can establish a “baseline” and prepare for implementing evidence-based guidelines to increase the proportion of newborn infants with admission temperatures within normal limits. Read the Jan.-March summary report here.

Key Points:

• An astounding 76 percent of enrolled hospitals reported data for the period.

• There are currently 160 hospitals enrolled, making it TCHMB’s largest statewide initiative to date.

• This is the first time a TCHMB initiative has tracked data by race/ethnicity.

Why it matters:

By tracking data from each hospital, the NAT project can complete statewide analyses, including by region or type and size of hospital, as well as hospital-specific analyses.

Testimonials from NAT Project Ahead of Hospital-Level Dashboard

Only July 31, 2022, hospitals actively participating in the Newborn Admission Temperature Project will submit another round of data, marking one full year of data collection. This data will allow TCHMB to provide participating hospitals with hypothermia prevalence at their own hospitals, and more. Having a full year of data means that the estimates are more reliable, and can provide meaningful insights into patterns at the state and regional levels.

The NAT project is the largest in TCHMB history with 160 hospitals enrolled. During the most recent round of data reporting, over 75% of enrolled hospitals submitted data to TCHMB. See what some hospitals are saying, after nearly one year of participating in the NAT project:

Memorial Hermann Health System decided to participate in the project because we consider the work that TCHMB is doing as important, and we are focusing on reducing disparity in equity, diversity, and inclusion work.

 With 25,000 deliveries a year, we were faced with a daunting project to obtain race and ethnicity on each newborn and collect temperatures according to the different parameters for well baby and NICU. We leveraged our ability to create documentation reports and perform data analysis to avoid the manual tracking and chart review, cutting down manual validation by an estimated 95%.

- Memorial Hermann Health System

The project was a definite challenge for our institution because of the large number of patients we care for. Obtaining data was very labor intensive and required working with a data architect to get a custom report built. Building the report, obtaining data outside of our NICUs and validating data were all challenges we encountered which required a lot of time, but we eventually overcame those challenges.

- Texas Children’s Hospital

In 2019-2020, Doctors Hospital of Laredo (DHL) solely tackled the newborn admission temperature QI project knowing that thermoregulation is the holy grail of neonatology. Huge strides were made towards adequate thermoregulation of the newborn, bringing DHL very close in achieving the goal.

In late 2020, when TCHMB announced the QI initiative of Newborn Admission Temperature (NAT) to increase newborn health care quality and patient safety; DHL did not hesitate in enrolling.  We are hopeful in reaching the goal and provide quality care to every single baby born at DHL by participating in the state-wide NAT project.

Thank you for allowing us to participate.

- Doctors Hospital of Laredo

If your hospital has questions about the project or needs technical assistance in reporting to the project, visit NAT Office Hours, every Wednesday from 12-2 p.m. CST.

Recommendations related to COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy

TCHMB would like to share resources regarding recommendations related to COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) and the Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Click to read each organization’s recommendations and resources. Additionally, DSHS has created free waiting room posters and social media posts that can be found here.

Announcement of the Perinatal Psychiatric Access Network

The Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium and The University of Texas System is excited to announce the signing of senate bill 8 by the governor authorizing the use of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to support the operations and expansion of mental health services for Texas children and families.  A portion of these funds will be used to pilot a Perinatal Psychiatric Access Network (Peri-PAN) in Texas to address the mental health needs for pregnant and postpartum women in Texas. The core components of the Peri-PAN are:·       

• Providing phone-based consultation offering guidance and case management to providers

• Assisting providers with resource navigation and referral services

• Providing training and education to psychiatrists and primary care providers on perinatal mental health services

To learn more about Peri-PAN, please contact tcmhcc@utsystem.edu

Obstetrics Project Update

The Obstetrics Committee of the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB) is excited to announce the initiation of a quality improvement initiative that will be integrated into the current TexasAIM Hypertension Bundle.  The initiative’s goal is to improve the recognition and response to postpartum preeclampsia in emergency department in partnership with their obstetrics departments.  We are looking for Emergency Department clinicians and administrators interested in joining the  Recognition and Response to Postpartum Preeclampsia in the Emergency Department (PPED) workgroup.  If you are interested or would like additional information about the project, please contact TCHMB-PPED@utsystem.edu.

Newborn Admission Temperature (NAT) Project Update

The Neonatal Committee of the Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies (TCHMB) has completed two data collection periods for the Newborn Admission Temperature (NAT) Project. Of the 157 hospitals enrolled, 110 (70%) have submitted data for the most recent (second) data collection period. Overall, data quality has improved since the first data collection period, with more hospitals submitting data stratified by race/ethnicity. The NAT team is currently working on a report that will be published to the website in the coming month.

For hospitals needing additional support, we will provide weekly “NAT Office Hours” on Wednesdays from 12-2pm. Please feel free to drop in any time during these sessions for individual support. If you need the link for the meeting or if this time does not work for you, please reach out to us at nat@utsystem.edu.