---
title: Deploying POKE Within Intermountain Healthcare
nct_id: NCT03688607
overall_status: UNKNOWN
sponsor: Intermountain Health Care, Inc.
study_type: OBSERVATIONAL
primary_condition: Newborn; Infection
countries: United States
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT03688607.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03688607"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2018-09-28
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T07:19:58.685Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# Deploying POKE Within Intermountain Healthcare

**NCT ID:** [NCT03688607](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03688607)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** UNKNOWN
- **Study Type:** OBSERVATIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 2600
- **Lead Sponsor:** Intermountain Health Care, Inc.
- **Conditions:** Newborn; Infection
- **Start Date:** 2018-10-01
- **Completion Date:** 2019-05-31
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2018-09-28

## Brief Summary

To assess the impact of POKE on babies, the investigators will longitudinally track outcomes before and after implementation at Intermountain Healthcare's five NICUs. Process outcomes will include the number of total POKEs per baby and the number of painful POKEs per baby, each measured at both the patient-level and NICU-level. Clinical outcomes will include hospital acquired infections, length of stay, and mortality. Financial outcomes will include total variable costs and backfill rate. The effect of POKE on each of these outcomes will be measured using multivariable regression analysis with appropriate distributional families and interaction terms.

## Detailed Description

POKE was developed and implemented at Dixie Regional Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) over the past 10 years to eliminate waste and reduce harm in healthcare. POKE is a combination of a unique culture and process, with a supporting database, that is designed to guide and inform care decisions while minimizing POKEs. The program utilizes an implementation framework, educational materials, electronic health records (EHR), and decision support analytics. POKE's initial deployment showed extremely promising results for Intermountain, which included: (1) eliminating 11,000 POKEs per year (a 50% reduction in overall POKEs), (2) realizing $940,000 per year in cost savings (a 28% reduction of overall cost), (3) reducing length of stay by 2 weeks per average stay (a 21% reduction in length of stay), and (4) eliminating Hospital Acquired Infections (i.e., Central-line Associated Bloodstream Infection and Ventilator-associated Pneumonia), translating into 10 lives saved and a $5.2M savings over a decade. POKE will now be deployed and routinized within all Intermountain Healthcare NICUs and be developed as a commercial product for external customers. To assess the impact of POKE on babies, the investigators will longitudinally track several outcomes before and after implementation at Intermountain NICUs. Process outcomes will include the number of total POKEs per baby and the number of painful POKEs per baby, each measured at both the patient-level and NICU-level. Clinical outcomes will include hospital acquired infections, length of stay, and mortality. Financial outcomes will include total variable costs and backfill rate.

## Eligibility

- **Maximum age:** 12 Months
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** Yes

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* All babies in Intermountain Healthcare NICU

Exclusion Criteria:

* None
```

## Arms

- **POKE** — All babies in NICU at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals

## Interventions

- **There will not be an intervention, rather the investigators will deploy best practices and track POKEs within the healthcare system to evaluate clinical and operational outcomes.** (PROCEDURE) — There will not be an intervention, rather the investigators will deploy best practices and track POKEs within the healthcare system to evaluate clinical and operational outcomes.

## Primary Outcomes

- **Number of POKEs per baby** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_ — The primary outcomes will be the number of total POKEs per baby and the number of painful POKEs per baby. We will assess the impact of POKE on each of these outcomes modeled as counts (ie, generalized Poisson distributions) using multivariable regression adjusting for potential confounders including age, gestational age, interaction terms, and nominal indicators of NICU (to account for baseline heterogeneity across sites).

## Secondary Outcomes

- **Infection Rate** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_
- **Length of Stay** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_
- **Mortality** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_
- **Total Variable Cost** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_
- **Aggregate Backfill Rate** _(time frame: 1 October 2018 - 31 May 2019)_

## Locations (1)

- Dixie Regional Medical Center, Intermountain Healthcare, St. George, Utah, United States

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.maxAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.secondary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.dixie regional medical center, intermountain healthcare|st. george|utah|united states` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT03688607.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03688607*  
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