Impact of an integrated mother-preterm infant intervention on birth hospitalization charges

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether the H-HOPE (Hospital to Home: Optimizing the Preterm Infant’s Environment) intervention reduced birth hospitalization charges yielding net savings after adjusting for intervention costs. STUDY DESIGN: One hundred and twenty-one mother-preterm infant dyads randomized to H-HOPE or a control group had birth hospitalization data. Neonatal intensive care unit costs were based on billing charges. Linear regression, propensity scoring and regression analyses were used to describe charge differences. RESULTS: Mean H-HOPE charges were $10,185 lower than controls (p = 0.012). Propensity score matching showed the largest savings of $14,656 (p = 0.003) for H-HOPE infants, and quantile regression showed a savings of $13,222 at the 75th percentile (p = 0.015) for H-HOPE infants. Cost savings increased as hospital charges increased. The mean intervention cost was $680 per infant. CONCLUSIONS: Lower birth hospitalization charges and the net cost savings of H-HOPE infants support implementation of H-HOPE as the standard of care for preterm infants.