We have studied clinical and demographic variability among babies discharged during the first week of life using discharge-specific databases available from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and vital statistics data from the Florida Center for Health Statistics. For the period January 1992 to September 1994, there has been a steady reduction in the length of stay for babies born in Florida. During the 3rd quarter, 1994, 53% of vaginally delivered full term singletons were discharged on the first day of life, more than double the frequency of quarter 1, 1992. This trend was seen in all demographic groups examined. Babies delivered by c/s were also noted to have shorter lengths-of-stay.

In an attempt to study morbidity associated with early discharge, discharge records (including readmission) were merged with birth and death certificate data. We observed a change in the distribution of neonatal readmissions by day of initial discharge. To this end, innovative multi step merging procedures are being used to assess the relationship of readmission diagnoses to initial hospital discharge. Table

Table 1
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