Technology to Improve Decision Making & Neonatal Outcomes in Special Neonatal Care Units in India

Specific Aims

The overarching goal of this project is to prepare for the development of a platform (clinical testing site, digital data visualizations, and  recommendations for data interoperability) for rapid and efficient conduct of clinical trials to test “Best Bundles for Babies” of existing and new medical  equipment to enhance newborn care in India, particularly in SNCUs. Our focus is SNCUs within the Indian Government Health Sector. Specifically,  the project describes current facilitators, barriers, gaps and needs for medical equipment in a range of SNCUs Government Hospitals in Maharashtra with a view to improving triage decisions and optimal monitoring of newborns using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods. The specific aims of the project are as followed: 

  1. To select a range of SNCUs with 12-60 beds in the Central India, to describe the population and the clinical needs of the population that the  SNCU serves;  
  2. To conduct focus groups, followed by in-depth interviews, with hospital administrators, and SNCU clinical and support staff to understand  barriers and facilitators to optimal clinical decision making in the SNCU and unmet needs that could be addressed by medical equipment to  enhance care of newborns in the SNCUs;  
  3. To conduct in-depth interviews to explore and begin to identify the timely, pertinent and intuitive data5 and equipment that are needed by  health care workers to prepare for a future data collection platform that will effectively triage and monitor the clinical status of newborns in  the SNCUs;
  4. To understand how SNCUs monitor their current medical equipment and to refine and develop new methods for to optimize data  collection and visualization to address identified needs.