The TELENEO Trial: A Multicenter Trial of Telemedicine for Advanced Neonatal Resuscitations in Community Hospitals

PROJECT SUMMARY Approximately 10% of neonates require assistance to begin breathing after birth. At-risk neonates, i.e., those requiring advanced resuscitation due to prematurity, brain injury, or other conditions, are at increased risk of mortality when born in a hospital without a neonatal intensive care unit (‘outborn’) compared to at-risk neonates born in a hospital with a NICU (‘inborn’). Furthermore, at-risk outborn neonates are more likely to suffer serious morbidity, e.g., pneumothorax, severe intraventricular hemorrhage (sIVH), and seizures, and receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the delivery room. We estimate that there are 10,000-15,000 at-risk outborn neonates each year who experience poorer health outcomes due to their birth location. However, there are limited strategies to optimize the resuscitation of at-risk neonates born in community hospitals that lack higher levels of neonatal care. There is a critical need to improve patient-important outcomes for this population. The overall objectives in this application are to (i) determine the impact of real-time, audio-video telemedicine consults provided by a neonatologist (termed teleneonatology) on the risk of early mortality and morbidity for at-risk outborn neonates, and (ii) evaluate the effect of teleneonatology on delivery room care provided to these neonates. The central hypothesis is that teleneonatology reduces early mortality and morbidity and improves delivery room care for at-risk outborn neonates. The rationale for this project is that teleneonatology brings resuscitation expertise to the bedside of at-risk neonates more effectively than a brief telephone consult, which is the current practice. Through teleneonatology, the neonatologist can visualize the neonate and provide step- by-step guidance to the community hospital care team. The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: 1) Determine the impact of teleneonatology on the risk of early neonatal mortality (death within 7 days), 2) Identify the effect teleneonatology has on the risk of early morbidity (defined as pneumothorax, sIVH, or seizure during the first 7 days of life), and 3) Evaluate the impact of teleneonatology on delivery room care. The three aims are embedded into a single prospective, multi-center research trial. With sequential roll-out of the intervention using a cluster randomized stepped wedge design, neonatologists from four NICU ‘hub’ sites will provide teleneonatology consults to at-risk outborn neonates born at 27 community hospital ‘spoke’ sites. Completion of the proposed research will contribute the first-ever, high quality evidence on the impact of teleneonatology on neonatal health outcomes. The research is innovative because it uses video telemedicine to connect neonatologists exactly when needed to at-risk outborn neonates in a way that was not previously possible. This project is significant because it may identify an innovative care model that reduces the long- standing outcome disparities experienced by at-risk outborn neonates.