The current organization and financing system for children's health care can discourage health care organizations from investing in improving the quality of care for children, according to the Child Health Business Case Working Group. Denise Dougherty, Ph.D., Senior Advisor on Child Health at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is a member of the group. To assess the potential impediments to establishing a business case for improving the quality of children's health care and to identify potential solutions, the group relied on analysis of hypothetical cases that they constructed based on their experiences as leaders in State and Federal policy, health economics, and children's health care. They also reviewed the literature and performed structured policy analyses.
In the current health care system, investments in quality—while producing net economic benefit to society—do not routinely translate into improved financial performance for health care organizations. To make a better business case for improving quality in children's health care, the group recommends taking steps to create a less fragmented system of financing and delivery of health care services, expanding the emphasis on clinical research, and educating the public concerning the importance of high quality health care for children.
This approach may help redefine the scope of what is included in excellent, family-centered care. Members of the working group concluded that, in the end, the health care community may need to fall back on a shared sense of public stewardship for children's lives in order to find the will to do what it takes to improve health care quality for children.
See "Exploring the business case for improving the quality of health care for children," by the Child Health Business Case Working Group, in the July 2004 Health Affairs 23(4), pp. 159-166.
Reprints (AHRQ Publication No. 04-R062) are available from AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse.
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