Quality Improvement in Pediatric Cardiology: The National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative

Abstract

Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) manifest broad anatomical and physiological heterogeneity, often making medical decision-making complex and variable. Clinical assessments regarding medical and surgical management in an individual patient are frequently made based on individual or group heuristics and past experience rather than solely on scientific evidence [1]. The relative paucity of patients with complex CHD and the variation in their anatomy and physiology has made it difficult to perform rigorous studies defining best practices that are associated with improved outcomes in these children. The Joint Council on Congenital Heart Disease (JCCHD) developed the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC) is the first quality improvement collaborative in pediatric cardiology. This collaborative used a multi-site network, practice-based registry data and improvement science methodology to identify variation in management and to improve outcomes in patients with complex congenital heart disease.