Early Nursery Discharge during COVID-19 and Readmissions for Hyperbilirubinemia.

Background and Objective: Early discharge from the Newborn Nursery has been associated with an increased risk for readmission, especially for hyperbilirubinemia. During COVID-19, early discharge policies were enacted at our hospital, allowing prospective data collection to evaluate if early discharge resulted in increased readmission for hyperbilirubinemia. Methods: Prospective observational data was abstracted from the electronic medical record in a New York State hospital with 2400 deliveries/year. Only babies >36 weeks gestation, born by NSVD, and admitted to the general Nursery were included. Data was analyzed for early discharge at =36 and =48 hours. Results: During the COVID-19 study period (January 2020-June 2021), 1714 babies met inclusion criteria. Five hundred seventyeight (34%) of patients were discharged =36 hours and 1225 (71%) =48 hours. For newborns discharged =36 hours, there were 5 RA (0.9%), which was significantly less than 28 (2.5%) discharged >36 hours [OR 0.35(0.13, 0.90) (p=0.03)]. Twenty newborns (1.6%) discharged =48 hours were readmitted compared to 13 (2.3%) discharged >48 hours [OR 0.61(0.31, 1.23) (p=0.17)]. Conclusion: Early discharge was not associated with increased readmissions for hyperbilirubinemia with early discharges at =36 and 48 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]