Alliance for Pediatric Quality Joins in Movement for Transformative Healthcare Reform

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- As a leading member of a coalition of 28 major national organizations representing those who receive, pay for, deliver and evaluate healthcare, the Alliance for Pediatric Quality (Alliance) joined today in unveiling a comprehensive agenda to transform healthcare.

The Alliance is one of 28 organizations that compose the National Priorities Partnership. The Partnership's improvement agenda includes six "National Priorities" that target reform to eliminate harm, eradicate disparities, reduce disease burden, and remove waste to provide world-class, affordable healthcare.

"The Partnership represents unprecedented consensus -- we have brought the right players together at the right time to effect positive, meaningful change," said Partnership co-chair and National Committee for Quality Assurance president Margaret O'Kane.

"No one organization alone can bring about the changes our healthcare system needs," said Marlene Miller, the Alliance's representative to NPP, and Vice-Chair, Quality and Safety Initiatives for Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and Chief Medical Officer for the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. "Through the collaboration of the NPP, we can affect change in safety, health information technology and patient-centered care, which are critical to overall quality improvement."

Earlier this year, the Alliance endorsed four quality improvement initiatives that reduced bloodstream infection rates, increased life expectancy among cystic fibrosis patients and improved chronic care for children with asthma and inflammatory bowel disease. The Alliance plays a leadership role in aligning the pediatric community to improve health information technology for children. Last month, the Certification Commission on Health Information Technology announced Alliance-influenced Child Health Certification criteria for electronic health records used in ambulatory settings.

"The key is focusing on the right places in our vast and fragmented 'system' where we can achieve the greatest dividends for patients and their families. If leveraged strategically, increments of improvement can accrue into transformational change and a much higher-performing healthcare system," said Janet Corrigan, president and CEO of National Quality Forum, which convened the NPP.

Read more: http://www.kidsquality.org

The Alliance for Pediatric Quality is a partnership of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Board of Pediatrics, Child Health Corporation of America and National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. Collectively, these organizations represent more than 60,000 pediatricians and 200 children's hospitals.