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Effects of a remote patient monitoring program on cost of care for neonates with inadequate oral feeding

Journal of Perinatology (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) facilitates early discharge of infants with inadequate oral feeding. We aim to determine the financial impact of discharge with RPM compared to continued hospitalization.

Study design

Patients discharged on RPM between May 2019 and June 2024 were eligible. Days of home nasogastric tube feeds and total physician time per episode were recorded. Direct cost estimates for each aspect of RPM and continued hospitalization were used to calculate cost savings of RPM use from a health care system perspective. One- and two-way sensitivity analyses were performed.

Results

One hundred eighty infants were included. RPM decreased the hospital stay by 9.2 days/patient (mean). An RPM episode cost $1,768.24 (mean), while hypothetical continued hospitalization cost $13,978.32 (mean); a difference of $12,210.08. Sensitivity analyses showed that inpatient hospital cost variations were the primary driver of savings.

Conclusion

RPM programs for neonates with inadequate oral feeding can reduce direct medical costs.

Clinical trial resgistration

None

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to the donors who made the creation of Growing @ Home a possibility and to the families for participating in our Growing @ Home studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO, USA

    Christina R. Fisher

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Portland, OR, USA

    Dmitry Dukhovny & Jamie B. Warren

Authors
  1. Christina R. Fisher
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  2. Dmitry Dukhovny
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  3. Jamie B. Warren
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Contributions

CRF conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. DD conceptualized and designed the study, and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. JBW conceptualized and designed the study, collected data, carried out the initial analyses, and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jamie B. Warren.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Oregon Health & Science University (#19657). The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Fisher, C.R., Dukhovny, D. & Warren, J.B. Effects of a remote patient monitoring program on cost of care for neonates with inadequate oral feeding. J Perinatol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-025-02334-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-025-02334-w

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