Implementation and Assessment of a SmartZone Alert to Notify Clinicians of Critical Hyperbilirubinemia in Preterm Infants Less Than 35 Weeks Gestation

Abstract

Abstract Background Neonatal jaundice, also known as hyperbilirubinemia in term and preterm infants, is treated with phototherapy when bilirubin results exceed gestational age- and age-specific medical decision levels (MDL) to prevent kernicterus and bilirubin-induced neurological damage. During phototherapy, unconjugated bilirubin is converted to water-soluble isomers that are excreted in the urine. Presently, the electronic medical record (EMR) at our hospital cannot use gestational age to stratify reference ranges thereby the associated flags and alerts would not be triggered, leading to delays in reviewing bilirubin results and placing phototherapy orders. The aim of this project is to replace the current manual assessment process for phototherapy with a newly designed alert to notify clinicians of elevated bilirubin results for preterm infants (<35 weeks gestation) and to minimize prolonged delays in placing phototherapy orders. We hypothesized that the SmartZone alert will encourage consistent and timely consideration of phototherapy. Method A SmartZone alert, built with Cerner command language and Discern Expert rules, evaluates total or neonatal bilirubin results for patients in the Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit (NICCU), calculates the patient’s age using the recorded gestational age and birth time, and utilizes the following rules: 1) bilirubin result must exceed the pre-defined gestational age-specific MDLs, and 2) calculated gestational age is <35 weeks. Additionally, the SmartZone alert will not be triggered if there is an active phototherapy order. Once triggered, the alert will be visible for four hours to all caregivers who view the patient’s EMR. We compared the duration of time between verified bilirubin results and phototherapy orders before and after the implementation of the SmartZone alert. Result The SmartZone alert was implemented on 01/11/2022. Between 1/1/2021 - 1/11/2022, 95 preterm infants in the NICCU had neonatal and total bilirubin results, in which 19 met the criteria for the alert to be triggered, and 17 had phototherapy orders. Further analysis revealed that 12 orders were placed <24 hours, four orders were placed 24 - 72 hours, and one order was placed >72 hours after bilirubin results were verified. Between 1/12/2022 – 2/13/2022, 13 newly admitted preterm infants in the NICCU had neonatal and total bilirubin results, in which one triggered the alert, and phototherapy was ordered within 15 hours. Conclusion A SmartZone alert was implemented to encourage consistent and timely consideration of phototherapy for preterm infants <35 weeks with critical hyperbilirubinemia. The alert is functioning as intended. This alert will be continuously monitored to further optimize its functionality and utilization.