MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (July 6, 2022) – Children’s Minnesota is thrilled to announce our innovative The Kid Experts™ At Home monitoring program is now available exclusively at both of our hospital campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and also Mercy hospital in Coon Rapids. It is the only program in the state of Minnesota that gives eligible newborns the ability to go home sooner – while still being monitored remotely by Children’s Minnesota’s neonatology team.
Only babies currently in the three hospitals’ neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and our Minneapolis hospital’s Special Care Nursery, are eligible for the program. These babies must meet certain requirements before they are enrolled in the program. The Kid Experts™ At Home first launched in 2021 as a pilot study at Children’s Minnesota’s St. Paul NICU. It expanded to Children’s Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus in the spring of 2022, and then to the Children’s Minnesota NICU at Mercy hospital in June 2022.
Newborns who qualify for the program have a nasogastric (NG) feeding tube present at the time of discharge, and are on a combination of oral and tube feedings at that time. Each infant’s family is taught proper NG and oral feeding techniques, and also completes CPR training prior to discharge. At home, the newborn’s parents use a specialized app via their smartphone or tablet to input their baby’s vitals daily. Vitals include their baby’s weight, and how their feed orally compared to their tube feeding support. This secure information is reviewed remotely by their expert care team. Among the qualifications for The Kid Experts™ At Home, a newborn must not have any respiratory problems and also weigh more than four pounds.
“The Kid Experts™ At Home has forged new ground in how Children’s Minnesota provides expert, specialized, care for our most vulnerable patients. The success and expansion of the program is a testament to how Children’s Minnesota is committed to pioneering new resources that always put our patients first,” said Dr. Cristina Miller, medical director of the NICU follow-up clinic at Children’s Minnesota, and founder and director of The Kid Experts™ At Home. “The program is helping more families enjoy time together under their own roof while cutting-edge technology keeps their care team close-by.”
Locations are part of The Mother Baby Centers, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota.
About Children’s Minnesota
Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest pediatric health systems in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children’s Minnesota is one system serving kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, nine primary care clinics, multiple specialty clinics and seven rehabilitation sites. As The Kids ExpertsTM in our region, Children’s Minnesota is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children’s hospital.
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