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Key Findings
- Combining a training package to improve the knowledge and skills of health care workers in managing sick and preterm neonates with point-of-care quality improvement skills successfully reduced the unindicated use of oxygen, antibiotics, and phototherapy while increasing the use of enteral feeds.
- Despite a significant reduction in the use of 2 lifesaving medical interventions—oxygen and antibiotics—no increase in mortality or short-term adverse outcome was observed, indicating an overuse of these interventions in the preintervention period.
Key Implication
- A strategy of combining professional training activities and coaching in continuous quality improvement methods can successfully improve the health care of sick and preterm neonates. With the rapid expansion of access to facility-based neonatal care, it is important to monitor for both overuse and underuse of evidence-based interventions.