Improving Treatment for Drug-Exposed Infants
Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 5

Other Important Areas for Monitoring

As noted above, because of the importance of continuity of care in this model for treating drug-exposed infants, the areas of linkage and collaboration should be paramount in designing quality assurance monitoring. The following are more examples for monitoring:

• Ensuring linkage through the acceptance of patients for treatment.
• For the patient not accepted for treatment, ensuring that there is proper documentation of the reasons why the patient was not appropriate for the facility, and that steps were taken to link the patient to appropriate services.
• Although discharging pregnant patients is not recommended, occasions may arise that necessitate this course of action. In these cases, there must always be full documentation of the rationale for discharge and prior attempts to engage the patient in treatment. Similarly, there should be documentation of referring the patient to alternative treatment.
• Ensuring that there is documentation of referral and linkage to appropriate programs if the agency is unable to provide necessary services.
• Checking to determine if the primary treatment facility monitors whether patients have a treatment plan listing all required services, whether there is documentation that the patient is linked to all required services, and whether there is documentation of the patient's progress in all referred services.