ABSTRACT
An infant mortality rate is an important public health measure because it may indicate unmet health needs or unfavorable environmental factors. The infant mortality rate for Native Americans in Wisconsin has decreased over the past several years, although there remains a discrepancy between Native Americans, all races combined and the Healthy People 2000 goal. The Wisconsin American Indian Infant Mortality Review Project (WAIIMR) conducted a study to understand local underlying factors that contributed to infant deaths and to recommend local health initiatives that could be developed to have a positive impact on the health of infants and mothers. The results from the WAIIMR Project and more recent Wisconsin birth record data are discussed in this paper. Two risk factors, levels of prenatal care and maternal smoking during pregnancy, show discrepancies between races and warrant further investigation. Native American communities in Wisconsin are addressing risk factors affecting maternal and child health through projects such as Honoring Our Children and The Michigan/Wisconsin Epidemiology Center.
Subject(s)
Indians, North American/statistics & numerical data , Infant Mortality/trends , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Risk Factors , Wisconsin/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Although more and more hospitals are implementing universal newborn hearing screening programs, there is still very little information available about the costs of newborn hearing screening programs. The few articles which have been published evaluate technologies or protocols which are no longer used, are incomplete, or are based on hypothetical estimates of the costs and time necessary to do screening. After briefly reviewing the extant literature, this article describes a cost analysis of a TEOAE-based universal newborn hearing screening program. Reasons why the cost per baby ($7.42) is lower than in previous reports are explained, and the benefits of having accurate cost analysis data are summarized.
Subject(s)
Cochlea , Costs and Cost Analysis , Hearing Disorders/diagnosis , Neonatal Screening/economics , Acoustic Stimulation , Cochlea/physiopathology , Hearing Disorders/physiopathology , Humans , Infant, NewbornABSTRACT
More and more chief nurse executives (CNEs) are receiving incentive compensation plans. The authors report trends in incentive compensation and discuss what 184 CNEs in multihospital systems said about their incentive compensation plan.
