High Risk Infant Follow-up
Goal
The goal of the High Risk Infant Follow-up (HRIF) Quality Improvement Initiative is to maximize the neurodevelopmental outcomes of California’s high-risk infants by age 3 years.
Major Outcomes
If this project is successful, it will result in the following major outcomes:
- Development of a Standardized California’s HRIF program with respect to timing, components of evaluation, and case management (spectrum of needed intervention resources, and assessment of success in obtaining the recommended resources and an evaluation of the specific barriers to each resource). The program would serve as a model to the nation.
- Development of a case management profile for the purpose of managing patient resources including provider reimbursement for services, coordination of benefits, paying for services to infants with non-qualifying conditions, ensuring “Medical Home” for all HRIF infants, and monitoring whether or not the infant’s actual service profile reflects the recommended service profile. This may include identification of a number of unmet needs, including:
- Oral Heath (family)
- Mental Health (family)
- D&A Services (family)
- Durable Medical Equipment (communication, nebulizer, etc)
- Medications
- Food/Hunger
- Housing and Related Conditions at Home (air conditioning)
- Health Education (general care, special condition)
- Home Health SVC
- Provision of information to providers, health systems and policy makers regarding HRIF standards of care and their availability (e.g., recommended therapies) as well as estimations of the number of infants requiring specific services as infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children.
- Early identification of California’s population of infants who would benefit from High Risk Infant Follow-up (HRIF) services, assessment of the percentage of infants who are actually referred to and receive HRIF services, and assessment of the percentage of infants that complete their HRIF program.
- Bring value to HRIF providers by creating an interactive, electronic monitoring system that will enhance clinical care and documentation at the point of care.
- Provision of 3-year, risk-adjusted outcomes to hospital of birth and/or hospital of neonatal care.
- Development of a “Family Satisfaction Screening Tool” to be utilized at various stages throughout an infant’s progression through the HRIF program, and which will address pertinent issues (e.g., the impact of socio-economic status on outcomes; family understanding of developmental follow-up care for their infant).
- Development of a case management profile for the purpose of tracking movement of infants through the HRIF program and decreasing the numbers of infants lost to follow-up.
- Provision of a HRIF research database for the purpose of conducting internal and collaborative research.
