Quality and Safety

Improving Outcomes for Infants and Children With Congenital Hypothyroidism
Improving Outcomes for Infants and Children With Congenital Hypothyroidism 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
Toddler playing with toys

A quality improvement project identifies high-risk patients and ensures they receive necessary care.   Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the most common preventable causes of intellectual disability. In the United States and many other countries, newborns are tested a 24-72 hours after birth for CH as part of standard screening tests. This condition must…

Reducing Opioid Prescriptions for Common Pediatric Urologic Procedures
Reducing Opioid Prescriptions for Common Pediatric Urologic Procedures 1024 682 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
smiling baby being held up by an adult

To address the national opioid epidemic, clinician-scientists developed a quality improvement initiative to achieve significant, long-term reductions in opioid prescriptions after common pediatric urologic procedures.   Opioids are commonly prescribed for pediatric urologic procedures. However, studies have reported a troubling practice of overprescribing opioids in pediatric health, contributing to the ongoing opioid epidemic. “There is…

Aiming for Zero
Aiming for Zero 150 150 Kelli Whitlock Burton

Efforts to eliminate preventable harm in pediatric care are making progress. But can we make it to zero? In October 2008, Richard Brilli, MD, stood in a silent conference room, waiting for his audience to digest the news he’d just delivered: hundreds of significant harm events are identified each year at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and…