Innovations
The National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) is an action-oriented nonprofit organization solely dedicated to achieving a world in which all children get the healthcare they need. Led by experienced pediatric professionals, NICHQ’s mission is to improve children’s health by improving the systems responsible for the delivery of children’s healthcare.
Over the past ten years, through the expertise of clinical and improvement leaders and parents, NICHQ has directly shaped the quality of care for children and youth.
See NICHQ's timeline to learn about the innovations that have impacted children's healthcare.
Innovative Prevention Programs for Improving Children’s Healthcare in California Now Available
Since 1999, the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) has worked to improve child health by improving the systems responsible for the delivery of children’s health care. We have learned—repeatedly—over the past decade that these systems are not now up to the task of addressing the health challenges of our children at the start of the 21st Century. Although incremental improvements in system performance can make a real difference, in order to truly meet the full spectrum of children’s 21st century health needs, our current healthcare system requires new models and new approaches.
The Innovative Prevention Programs for Improving Children’s Healthcare in California is a partnership with, and on behalf of, The California Endowment, which has been an early promoter of the power of prevention in changing health outcomes.
Read the Innovative Prevention Programs for Improving Children's Healthcare in California report by Gina Rogers, Senior Research Associate, Innovative Prevention Programs and Charles J. Homer MD, MPH President and CEO, NICHQ.
Better Care for Kids Through Interconnectedness
Health IT, when applied with quality improvement in mind, can enhance quality and safety for individual kids and improve measures of effectiveness for an entire population. Read how Children’s National Medical Center is doing just that through an innovative new initiative, The Children’s IQ Network.
The Children’s IQ Networksm is a health information exchange specifically designed for pediatrics. It links essential health information, such as physician visits, medications, allergies, problems, laboratory results and immunization histories for children throughout the region. Using electronic medical records (EMRs), the Children’s IQ Network aggregates children’s healthcare data from hospital-based and independent pediatric primary care providers, immunization registries, commercial laboratories, and the Children’s Hospital and Emergency Department through a central hub and patient-centric continuity of care record.
Now in 15 locations in the DC area, with additional sites to be connected by the end of the summer, the Children’s IQ Network will affect a significant portion of kids being seen in the region. Quality care delivery will be facilitated through the provision of key information from around the region to the practitioner making decisions for the child and family present in their office or Emergency Department. Data derived from the Children’s IQ Network will allow a quality and analytic team to identify opportunities for improved care delivery. Interventions will be disseminated across the Network through the electronic interconnectivity. Patient and Practitioner education is available for Network participants along with many web-based links and decision support tools which can be viewed or downloaded by care providers.
“This is an ambitious undertaking,” said Dr. Brian Jacobs, Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer at Children’s National Medical Center. “We have a multi-year horizon. Today, the initiative focuses on kids only, but will mature to where it will be interoperable with adult health exchanges to flow across the continuum as children grow into adulthood.”
“Health IT is critically important in advancing quality improvement and safety measures to achieve quality healthcare for all kids,” said Charles J. Homer MD, MPH, and president and chief executive officer at NICHQ. “We commend Children’s National Medical Center for taking on this innovative initiative and giving us a model that we can all strive for in the future.”
Learn More About the Children's IQ Networksm
