What Is Pediatric Health Services Research?

When a child arrives at a children’s hospital, they receive care from highly trained clinicians using the best available science. But what happens at the bedside is only part of the story.

Behind every clinical encounter is a vast health care system designed to serve millions of children. Its success depends on far more than any single provider or hospital.

Payment models, health care policies, access to care, quality measures, treatment options — these and dozens of other factors deeply impact how health care services are delivered and how effective, affordable, and equitable they are.  

At its core, pediatric health services research asks: How does the health care system work for children — and how can it work better?

Do hospitals have enough funding to support essential services?

Do children have the ability to access those services?

Do those services produce the best outcomes?

Pediatric health services research examines these questions from different angles and disciplines: clinical, economics, epidemiology, political science, psychology, sociology, and biostatistics, to name a few.

By studying the complex factors around health care delivery and its outcomes, health services research helps clinicians, hospital leaders, and policymakers make decisions grounded in evidence.

The result is higher quality, more reliable, and more accessible health care for every child in our country.

Defining health services research

Health services research sits at the intersection of providers, hospitals, payors, policymakers, patients, and communities, focusing on three connected areas:

• Access: How children and families interact with the health care system — where they receive care, how easily they get it, and what barriers stand in the way.
• Cost and utilization: What care is delivered, how often, and at what cost.
• Outcomes: What happens as a result of that care, including recovery, complications, readmissions, and long-term health.

Together, these areas help researchers understand and improve the design of the health care system so it better serves children.

Some of the ways it does this include:

• Guiding clinical care. Research findings inform national clinical guidelines, helping clinicians choose treatments that lead to better outcomes.
• Improving hospital performance. Hospital leaders use this work to understand factors such as length of stay, readmissions, and resource use, and then adjust care and operational models accordingly.
• Shaping policy. Policymakers rely on evidence from health services research to design programs and laws that improve access and outcomes for children, especially those with complex medical needs.

CHA’s role in health services research

The Children’s Hospital Association’s unique pediatric database, the Pediatric Health Information System® (PHIS), serves as the bedrock for much of the pediatric health services research in the U.S.

In addition, the association’s acclaimed team of researchers leads national research focused on the unique aspects of children’s health and empowers pediatric health services researchers at children’s hospitals in several ways.

Expanding the field
CHA trains pediatric clinicians to conduct health services research through a hands-on program covering every aspect of a professional research project, from conception to publication.

Led by internationally recognized and awarded researchers, CHA’s Health Services Research Academy has trained more than 300 clinicians from 54 U.S. hospitals.

By building research expertise within children’s hospitals, CHA helps ensure the next generation of pediatric health services research is grounded in real-world care and driven by clinicians on the front lines.

Powering collaborative research
CHA convenes and supports more than a dozen multi-hospital research groups focused on high-priority pediatric issues, ranging from mental health to medical complexity to injury prevention.

The association provides the methodological support, analytics, and dissemination expertise that allows these groups to develop peer-reviewed research that influences care around the world.

Research that changes practice and policy
CHA’s health services studies have been cited thousands of times in peer-reviewed journals. The research has informed national treatment guidelines used every day in children’s hospitals, policies that affect children’s health, and organizational improvements nationally.

Many health care methodologies, such as measures, scorecards, and algorithms, are designed for adult populations and require adaptation — or entirely different design — for pediatric use. CHA’s research has been instrumental in this area, especially in defining pediatric populations.

Research examining children with medical complexity helped lay the groundwork for the Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids (ACE Kids) Act, which changed how care is organized and financed for some of the most medically vulnerable children in the country.

Other widely cited studies reshaped understanding of the pediatric care landscape itself, documenting shifts in inpatient care and clarifying the essential role children’s hospitals play within the broader U.S. health system.

Evidence to actions

Pediatric health services research provides the foundation for better decisions — by clinicians, hospital leaders, and policymakers alike. Through its leadership in this field, CHA helps translate data into action, shaping care models, policies, and systems that improve outcomes for children nationwide.

When the system works better, children are healthier. That is the purpose of pediatric health services research.

To learn more and apply, visit CHA’s Health Services Research Academy.