To determine the impact of changing patterns of care for newborns with MCM on hospital resource consumption for the initial admission, we compared perinatal characteristics, admission rate, total hospital days (THD), length of stay (LOS), and mortality (MOR) over two four-year periods: Period I 1984-'87 and Period II: 1992-'95. Resource consumption and other outcomes were determined at the RCNIC, a single site for neonatal referrals in a well-established and sustained regionalized system of perinatal care. Data on newborns with MCM were also compared to infants without MCM (OTH) hospitalized at the RCNIC during the same period. Statistical analysis included T test for continuous variables and chi square for proportions. Between Period I & II the live births (115,278 - I; 117,171 - II) and lethal malformation rates were unchanged while neonatal mortality decreased. Hospital admission rates were 18.8 and 16.8/1000 live births for Periods I & II (p=.001). There were significant ↓ in MOR for both groups, LOS and% THD for OTH, and significant↑ in% total admissions and% THD for MCM between Period I & II. MCM had longer LOS than OTH (p<.005) and were more mature at birth (p=.0001). As LOS ↓ for OTH over MCM, newborns with MCM continue to be one of the largest single patient groups cared for in a regionalized neonatal intensive care setting. Table
