Quality of Care

Health Information Technology in Children's Health Care (May 2006)

MEPS Statistical Brief, No. 3:
Children's Health Care Quality, Fall 2000 (PDF Help)

Conferences & Workshops

Improving Children's Health Through Health Services Research
Conference, June 26, 1999

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Research Findings

Child Health Research Findings: Quality of Care/Patient Safety

Research Activities, July 2008:
Multiple prescriptions are linked to preventable drug reactions in children
Patient safety problems are relatively infrequent among hospitalized children
State policies can influence the safety of hospitalized children via Medicaid payments
Research Activities, March 2008:
Collaboration between hospital and community palliative care services can improve care for dying children
Parents of hospitalized children with chronic illnesses report fewer care-related problems than other parents
Pediatricians often do not pursue answers to questions that arise during medical visits
Rural emergency departments have a high rate of medication errors with the potential to harm children
Research Activities, February 2008:
Children with special health care needs seem to benefit from Medicaid managed care programs with case managers
Studies examine the impact of nurse staffing on complications, mortality, and length of hospital stay
Research Activities, January 2008:
Illinois hospitals are not ready to implement intrapartum strategies to eradicate pediatric HIV infection
Research Activities, December 2007:
Many underinsured U.S. children are not getting needed vaccines due to the current vaccine financing system
Family-centered, high quality primary care is linked to fewer nonurgent emergency department visits by children
Parents and children are mostly passive during pediatric visits
Treatments for pediatric Crohn's disease cases vary widely in North America
Research Activities, November 2007:
AHRQ expands therapeutics education and research centers and adds new topics: Health IT, economics, and formularies
Caregivers of children with special health care needs rate Medicaid managed care as having better care access than fee-for-service
Research Activities, September 2007:
Medication errors are made during care for half of the children seen at rural California emergency departments
Research Activities, August 2007:
Hope, experience, and education help nurses feel more comfortable and competent in providing palliative care to children
The gender of both the child and parent affect a child's participation during visits to the doctor
Many children treated at pediatric hospitals receive at least one "off-label" medication
Research Activities, July 2007:
Infliximab is a safe and effective therapeutic option for children with sever ulcerative colitis
Research Activities, June 2007:
The State Children's Health Insurance Program can improve care access, use, and quality for children with special health care needs and adolescents
Research Activities, May 2007:
Children with cerebral palsy have a greater risk of surgical complications and poor outcomes than other children
Fullness of the neonatal intensive care unit influences early discharge of moderately preterm infants
One in six emergency transports of children to South Carolina emergency rooms is medically unnecessary
Research Activities, April 2007:
Use of asthma care guidelines reduces emergency visits and improves asthma care in children
Research Activities, March 2007:
Emergency departments with physician residents are less effective in determining which children require hospital admission
A color-coded tape helps EMTs calculate the correct epinephrine dose for children in cardiopulmonary arrest
Research Activities, February 2007:
Eleven medications account for one-third of medication errors that harm hospitalized children
Research Activities, January 2007:
Pediatric hospitalists are more likely than community pediatricians to use evidence-based care for hospitalized children
Management of emergency department information on children's medication allergies needs improvement
Research Activities, December 2006:
Medical injuries among children result in longer hospital stays and higher charges
Research Activities, November 2006:
Long-term outpatient central venous catheters for bone infections cause complications in about 40 percent of children
Research Activities, October 2006:
Learning collaboratives are a potentially effective way to improve the quality of care delivered by pediatric practices
Use of pediatric hospitalists decreases hospital costs and stays without adversely affecting clinicians or parents
Research Activities, September 2006:
Anthrax in children is difficult to detect and treat
Children receiving surgery for hypoplastic left heart syndrome have better outcomes at hospitals that perform more such surgeries
Research Activities, July 2006:
Enrollment in New York's State Children's Health Insurance Program improves asthma care quality and access
Research Activities, April 2006
Doctor-patient communication is critical to how parents view the quality of end-of-life care for children with cancer
Research Activities, March 2006
AHRQ's Quality Indicators can be used as a screening tool to identify potential quality of care problems
Research Activities, February 2006:
Study examines the relevance and applications of the Institute of Medicine's quality aims on pediatric critical care
A surgery management protocol helps children with diabetes prepare for surgery
Research Activities, January 2006:
Broad-spectrum antibiotics given during labor are linked to late-onset serious bacterial infections in infants
Having a usual source of care increases wellness visits among children with asthma
Research Activities, November 2005:
Real-time safety audits can detect a broad range of errors in neonatal intensive care units
Research Activities, August 2005:
Efforts beyond expanding health coverage may be needed to improve access and quality for low-income and minority children
Few adolescents with special health care needs receive adequate transition from pediatric to adult-oriented health care
Certain managed care organization characteristics can increase specialty care use among chronically ill low-income children
Research Activities, July 2005:
Limited use of cephalosporins may reduce E. coli and Klebsiella bloodstream infections in hospitalized children
More minority and Medicaid-insured children experience perforated appendicitis than other children
Research Activities, June 2005:
Nurses can take steps to prevent pediatric medication errors associated with dosing and administration
Research Activities, May 2005:
Researchers examine effects of quality improvement on depression care for adolescents and adults
Research Activities, April 2005:
ICU patients are at risk for unintended and preventable adverse events involving airway management
Research Activities, January 2005:
Multifaceted QI program greatly improves use of prophylactic surfactant for high-risk preterm infants
Research Activities, December 2004:
Researchers identify features of primary care practice that enhance the quality of pediatric asthma care
Underreporting of medical errors affecting children is a significant problem, particularly among physicians
Two approaches hold promise for lowering U.S. infant mortality rates, which are particularly high for minority infants
Research Activities, November 2004:
Experts examine quality improvement in children's health care
Research Activities, October 2004:
Prolonged Candida infections in children with central venous catheters can lead to bloodstream and internal organ infections
Parents are willing to travel to distant hospitals to achieve a better outcome following pediatric cardiac surgery
Research Activities, September 2004:
Children with special health care needs in Medicaid managed care plans receive more needed care than those in Medicaid FFS plans
Research Activities, August 2004:
Initial surfactant treatment to prevent respiratory distress in very premature infants is often delayed in routine practice
Research Activities, July 2004:
Children with short stature function within the normal range on most standardized tests
Research Activities, June 2004:
Children in hospitals frequently experience medical injuries
Researchers identify five information technologies that have great potential to improve patient safety for children
Research Activities, May 2004:
Researchers find New York SCHIP improves health care access, continuity, and quality
Research Activities, April 2004:
Researchers examine ways to measure the quality of health services for children and adolescents

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