Pediatrix doctors care for some 20% of premature babies receiving intensive care in U.S. hospital NICUs.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

Some neonatal intensive-care units (NICUs) are cutting back on the high levels of oxygen traditionally given to premature babies.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

Gould, a Stanford University neonatologist who directs the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, which works with NICUs in the state.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

They generate admissions to NICUs, and NICUs are profit centers.

FORBES: The Five Biggest Problems In Health Care Today

Breast milk isn't always given to infants in busy NICUs, where clinicians often focus on other medical issues and may not take time to arrange for mothers to pump milk.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

Michael Battista, medical director of several Pediatrix NICUs in San Antonio, says some 35% of babies in the units suffered from hypothermia before 2003, when the units began using warming bags.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

Pediatrix in 2009 launched a "100, 000 Babies" campaign in 125 hospitals, aiming to improve the system of care for 100, 000 babies in NICUs around the country, based on lessons learned in earlier quality programs.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies

Analysis of 13, 532 infants born at 24 weeks to nearly 28 weeks from 2006 to 2008 found improvements resulted in a drop in the mortality rate in participating NICUs, from 18% in 2005 to just over 14% in 2009.

WSJ: How Hospitals Save More Lives and Reduce Infections in Premature Babies