American College of Cardiology Recognition
2011 U.S. News & World Report Survey Recognizes Pediatric and Congenital Cardiology QI Initiatives
Three of the ACC’s quality improvement initiatives have been included in the 2011 U.S. News and World Report’s pediatric hospital ranking survey.
This annual survey will recognize and credit pediatric/CT surgery programs for planning to participate and contribute data to quality initiatives, including ACC programs like the NCDR’s IMPACT and ICD registries.
The survey will also recognize centers for participation and data contribution to the Joint Council on Congenital Heart Disease’s (JCCHD) National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC), a registry network intended to improve care processes and outcomes for children with complex congenital heart disease. For their participation in this multi-center research and improvement network, these centers will be credited as participating in a national database and research collaborative in pediatric cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. The survey recognizes the NPC-QIC for including formal quality improvement science, as well as enhancing clinical pediatric cardiology teams’ collaborations with families to identify and promote improved clinical care processes.
The initial collaborative project aims to improve care and outcomes of infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome during the inter-stage period. The key improvement activities focus on care transitions at discharge; inter-stage nutrition and growth; and care coordination with the family, referring cardiologist and primary care clinician (medical home). Additionally, pediatric cardiologists participating in NPC-QIC are eligible to earn Part IV Maintenance of Certification (MOC) credit.
The JCCHD QI project was featured in the Spring 2009 edition of the ACPC Quarterly Section newsletter which, at that time, had 40 centers. The project has since increased in size, to include teams from 44 pediatric cardiology centers, representing about one-third of all pediatric surgical centers in the United States. Those seeking more information about the project can learn more by visiting www.jcchdqi.org.