Quality Improvement
Improving children’s health requires an approach at the national level to reform outdated payment systems for the more than 9,000 children with medical complexity, at the care delivery level to improve care coordination among providers and at the clinical level to improve patient outcomes and provide better value.
Sepsis
Sepsis, often called blood poisoning, can start with something as simple as a scrape or as complex as surgery. Every year sepsis affects a million people in the U.S., including as many as 40,000 children. Research has advanced our understanding, yet it remains a leading cause of death in hospitalized children. Early recognition of sepsis will save children's lives.
Patient Safety
Preventable harm occurs even in the best hospitals, and children’s hospitals are focused on improving patient safety practices for the best outcomes. The association sponsors improvement initiatives and works with other organizations to eliminate harm at children’s hospitals across the country.
Measurement & Standards
Children require different care than adults and children’s hospitals need quality measures that reflect the unique aspects of working with pediatric patients. CHA represents children and children’s hospitals in health care quality policy, advocacy and regulatory activities, especially with regard to quality measurement and regulatory and accreditation requirements.
Value-Based Care
The transition to value-based care (VBC) marks a substantial change in care delivery and payment models that support effective population health management. New models designed to improve children's short- and long-term health are increasingly possible as payment models migrate away from fee-for-service contracts.
Operations & Performance Improvement
Children’s hospitals face huge challenges to improve patient outcomes, decrease costs and transform the delivery of care while maintaining training programs for the next generation of pediatricians and specialists.
Behavioral Health
Children’s hospitals are seeing a growing number of children with behavioral and mental health needs. This has put pressure on facilities not designed to care for combative, aggressive or at-risk patients. New strategies are needed to ensure these children have the best outcomes.