The Vermont Oxford Network

Abstract

After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the topics of study of the Neonatal Intensive Care Quality Improvement Collaboratives. 2. List the four key habits of clinical improvement. “The nation’s health care system lacks… the capabilities to ensure that services are safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable… Between the health care we have and the care we could have, lies not just a gap but a chasm.” IOM 2001 (1) “More people die in a given year as a result of medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS.” IOM 2000 (2) In 2000 and 2001, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences issued two landmark reports that presented a clear and compelling challenge to all health care professionals. (1)(2) We must improve the quality and safety of the medical care for the patients and families that we serve. In this article, we describe the Vermont Oxford Network (VON) and the quality improvement (QI) activities it has undertaken to meet this challenge. The VON is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve the quality and safety of medical care for newborns and their families through a coordinated program of research, education, and quality improvement. (3)(4) VON currently has more than 440 member neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) from North America and around the world. Members participate in a range of Network activities, including randomized controlled trials, outcomes research, and a variety of QI projects. The focus of this article is QI. Descriptions and references for other VON activities are available on the VON Internet site (http://www.vtoxford.org). In support of its mission, VON maintains a database that includes information about the treatment and outcomes for high-risk infants receiving neonatal intensive care. Importantly, all …