Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2014 - (Page 3)

president'smessage Aiming to improve kids' health Learn more about the Association's focused work on quality and safety. A s a leading advocate for children's health, the Children's Hospital Association strives to advance principles our members believe are fundamental to improving children's health and well-being. To be successful, these principles must be rooted in the Association's plans for advocating national policy, advancing information sharing and supporting collaborations across our nation's children's hospitals. We adopted the Triple Aim as our national goal and framework to focus on advancing better care, improved population health and more affordable care for children. Current industry expressions of the Triple Aim are well established, and like most national health concepts, do not adequately address the circumstances and needs of children. To help us achieve our goals, we need a more focused expression: a Triple Aim for Kids. This process started in mid-2013 when a team representing children's hospitals' clinical and administrative leadership developed a framework to improve the quality, safety and cost of pediatric care based on the Triple Aim. Now, we are articulating what this means and aligning our improvement work across our hospitals to support and advance these objectives. The Association's newly minted Quality and Safety Committee of the Board of Trustees is tackling this challenge, and we'll be working with you to carry out the committee's vision. This includes specific work in each of the dimensions of Triple Aim: Better care for children. This has been an ongoing priority of the children's hospital community and encompasses not only our programs focused on improving the quality and safety of care for children, but on the required levels of access, service and support children and their families need. Affordable care for children. Addressing the cost of care is an increasingly urgent priority. Our children's hospital community must identify and inform its work with best practices and operational and delivery system reforms that reduce costs without sacrificing quality, safety and access to care. Healthier populations of children. Another emerging priority, this is challenging children's hospitals to think beyond their walls. Nationally and at the state levels, there is a continuing shift of the pediatric care environment toward more organized, integrated and managed health plan models as the backbone of health care reform. We set the bar high and we will rise to the challenge. It is our goal at the Association to work with you in defining the future of children's health care-and we recognize there is much to do. You can expect to see Association advocacy, performance improvement collaboratives, datasets, information offerings and research priorities woven together with the Triple Aim for Kids. It should be the foundation of our collective and collaborative efforts to advance priorities on a national level. This process is a journey, and with the combined efforts of children's hospitals, pediatricians and allied organizations, we will succeed in ensuring the health care needs of children are reflected in the changing national health care environment. You'll hear more from us on this throughout 2014. Mark Wietecha is president and CEO of the Children's Hospital Association. Send questions or comments to magazine@childrenshospitals.org. To find out more, visit childrenshospitals .net/qualitystrategicplanning. children's hospital s today Winter 2014 3 http://www.childrenshospitals.net/qualitystrategicplanning http://www.childrenshospitals.net/qualitystrategicplanning

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2014

Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2014
Contents
Edito's Note
President's Message
First Person
Everyday Hero
Reader Commentary
Helping Kids Affected by Burns
Behind the Numbers
Hands On
Healing Spaces
Board Member q&a
Public Policy Update
Child’s Story

Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2014