Infant Home Apnea Monitoring: A Quality Improvement Project for Provider Training of Practice Recommendations

Abstract

The use of home apnea monitoring for infants is a technology that has been utilized for over 40 years. Home apnea monitoring is currently prescribed for infants considered high risk following discharge from the hospital. Management of these monitors is within the scope of practice for pediatric providers in the primary care setting. Confusion has existed among pediatric outpatient providers about medical management of the monitors and when they should be discontinued. This project reviewed the evidence related to home apnea monitoring and sought to share current evidence with local pediatric primary care providers. Prior to presenting current evidence to a wider audience, a summary of the content was reviewed by local clinical experts. This content summary was placed into a digital (PowerPoint) recorded presentation. It was then distributed to the five local clinical experts for their review. These clinical experts were selected because they had extensive experience and knowledge in neonatology as well as a pediatric cardiology, and serve as resources for primary care providers These experts completed a survey before the educational brief, as well as after, measuring the usefulness of the information. Three of the five experts viewed the curriculum and responded. In the post-survey, all three responses indicated that this educational curriculum improved their knowledge of home apnea monitoring, indicating further education would be helpful. After the content was requested, a follow-up presentation with a more in-depth review of the literature was created and given to an audience of pediatric primary care providers at the American Academy of Pediatrics, Alaska Chapter, Grand Rounds. The same surveys were also given to the pediatricians to complete, with data obtained from the providers lending more support to the benefit of this education.