Horizontally integrated health systems and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) care for very preterm infants

Hospital care has consolidated rapidly into health systems in the United States. Infants born very preterm are among the most vulnerable pediatric populations, accounting for the majority of infant deaths each year. The pediatric health care delivery system for infants is unique as the birth hospitalization includes 2 patients, the mother and the infant. Further, regionalization goals for infants who are born preterm require care to be provided at neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) with the capacity to treat them. National patient-level data from the Vermont Oxford Network demonstrates that most very preterm infants were born in a horizontally integrated, multi-hospital system (84%), and they tended to remain in the system for their entire hospitalization, including for risk-appropriate NICU care. Half of the infants were cared for in large systems with more than 10 hospitals that were disproportionately cross-market systems. With high transfer rates between hospitals (21%) it will be important to determine the implications of consolidation for the quality of care and patient-centeredness for families. The care for very preterm infants is important from a policy perspective as hospitalized newborn infants account for 21% of hospitalizations in Medicaid each year and 10% of aggregate hospital costs.