Report finds hospitalization of drug-affected infants has leveled off statewide

The rate of newborns dealing with drug withdrawal in Pennsylvania appears to have leveled off the past two years, according to a report by an independent state agency.
In releasing the report Tuesday morning, Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council found there were 14.4 hospital stays for newborns with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome for every 1,000 newborn hospitalizations. The figures are from data PHC4 collected and analyzed during federal fiscal year 2018 (Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018).
That rate was down from 15.2 per 1,000 in FFY 2017. Until then, rates had gradually increased from 2000-01.
NAS, according to the report, “refers to an array of medical problems developing shortly after birth in newborns that were exposed to addictive drugs, typically opioids, while in the mother’s womb. Withdrawal signs develop because these newborns are no longer exposed to the drug for which they have become physically dependent.”
Statistics were broken down by county of residence for each of the state’s 67 counties, and Fayette’s figure was dreary. It had 59 NAS stays, or 49.7 per 1,000 newborn stays – the second-highest rate statewide behind Elk County (63.0). Lawrence (36.7), Venango (33.1) and Mercer (31.2) were third through fifth.
Centre County, conversely, had the lowest rate, 5.6.
Washington County, recognized in recent years for its infamous opioid crisis, was slightly above the state average at 16.1 (a total of 33 NAS hospitalizations). Greene had 16 NAS stays, but a rate could not be determined because of a low volume of total newborn stays.
Allegheny’s rate was 16.0, Westmoreland’s 17.3.
Overall, there were 1,833 NAS hospital stays during FY 2018.
Gary Weinstein, president and chief executive officer of Washington Health System, declined to comment about the results because they were county-oriented. But he did say the incidence of infants born at Washington Hospital with NAS has similarly leveled off, to 6 percent of all births since 2016. WHS’ rate had risen from 4 percent in 2013 and 5 percent in 2015.
PHC4 also found:
- NAS-related hospitalizations added about $15.2 million in hospital payments;
- Medicaid was the anticipated primary payer for 89 percent of NAS-related hospitalizations;
- The average stay for newborns with NAS was 15.9 days; 3.4 for other newborn stays. That amounted to about 23,000 more days in the hospital for babies with NAS;
- The NAS rate per 1,000 newborn stays was 20.3 in rural areas and 12.6 in urban; and 18.0 for infants categorized as white non-Hispanic; 9.5 for black, nonHispanic; and 5.9 for Hispanic.