O2106: Parent Perspectives on the Neonatal Interfacility Transport Experience and the Use of Technology During Transport

Background: Neonatal interfacility transport is often a complex and emotional process for parents, many of whom are adjusting to the experience of having a critically ill neonate. The purpose of this study was to understand the parental experience of neonatal transport concurrently with their interest in using telemedicine to see if the latter might be used to improve the former.

Methods: This was a mixed methods study. Parents of children who were transported via air or ground to two level IV NICUs from January 2020-September 2021 were sent a 33-item survey on demographics (level of education, household income, etc.), transport experience, communication and use of technology during transport. Respondents were invited to participate in a 30-minute phone interview using a semi-structured guide to explore their transport experience and perceptions on the use of common, yet unutilized, technology to facilitate communication. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative analysis. Data was organized using NVIVO and separately coded by three investigators to identify themes on the lived experience of having a critically-ill newborn requiring transport and communication and technology use during transport.

Results: Thirty-six parents (27 or 75% mothers, 25% fathers) completed the survey and 9 parents wished to be interviewed. Most parents (23 or 64%) lived an hour or less away from the NICU. Further demographic information is displayed in Table 1. 44% (16) of parents rode with the transport team. The majority (27 or 90%) of parents wanted an update on their child’s status during transport (94% by text, 79% by phone, 30% by video call). Most (31, 86%) would like to participate in telemedicine related to their child’s care, and only 4 (11%) were concerned about technology or privacy issues. Qualitative analysis identified 8 themes which included parent perspectives: “everything is a bit of a blur,” being separated, the right amount of information, and parent preferences on using technology, “as long as it is secure” (Table 2).

Conclusion: Caregivers’ experience of transport was focused on being separated from their child. They were interested in updates on their child’s status during transport. Future work could explore strategies to enhance communication during transport to improve the experience for caregivers.