Collective quality improvement in the paediatric cardiology acute care unit: establishment of the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC³)

Abstract

Collaborative quality improvement and learning networks have amended healthcare quality and value across specialities. Motivated by these successes, the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) was founded in late 2014 with an emphasis on improving outcomes of paediatric cardiology patients within cardiac acute care units; acute care encompasses all hospital-based inpatient non-intensive care. PAC3 aims to deliver higher quality and greater value care by facilitating the sharing of ideas and building alignment among its member institutions. These aims are intentionally aligned with the work of other national clinical collaborations, registries, and parent advocacy organisations. The mission and early work of PAC3 is exemplified by the formal partnership with the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4), as well as the creation of a clinical registry, which links with the PC4 registry to track practices and outcomes across the entire inpatient encounter from admission to discharge. Capturing the full inpatient experience allows detection of outcome differences related to variation in care delivered outside the cardiac ICU and development of benchmarks for cardiac acute care. We aspire to improve patient outcomes such as morbidity, hospital length of stay, and re-admission rates, while working to advance patient and family satisfaction. We will use quality improvement methodologies consistent with the Model for Improvement to achieve these aims. Membership currently includes 36 centres across North America, out of which 26 are also members of PC4. In this report, we describe the development of PAC3, including the philosophical, organisational, and infrastructural elements that will enable a paediatric acute care cardiology learning network.

The origins and development of the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative: creating innovative clinical, quality improvement, and research opportunities

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Comprehensive comparative outcomes in children with congenital heart disease: The rationale for the Congenital Catheterization Research Collaborative

“…While developing our bylaws and guidelines, the CCRC executive committee conferred with representatives from established and respected collaborative organizations, in particular leaders from the Pediatric Heart Network (PHN), the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS), the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Collaborative (PC 4 ), and the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) . These collaborations each have unique goals, administrative structures, and data collection instruments and yet their experiences and guidance were invaluable in creating the administrative and academic structure of our collaboration.…”

Variation in care practices across pediatric acute care cardiology units: Results of the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC 3 ) hospital survey

“…3 The principle of collaboration is fundamental to the efforts of PAC 3 in order to develop shared capacity for QI advancement and improved patient outcomes. Specifically, the mission of PAC 3 is to improve the quality, value, and experience of cardiac acute care.…”

“…Specifically, the mission of PAC 3 is to improve the quality, value, and experience of cardiac acute care. 3 The principle of collaboration is fundamental to the efforts of PAC 3 in order to develop shared capacity for QI advancement and improved patient outcomes.…”

“…The Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC 3 ) was established in 2014 to assess and understand clinical care practices and systems structure in the cardiac acute care domain. Specifically, the mission of PAC 3 is to improve the quality, value, and experience of cardiac acute care . The principle of collaboration is fundamental to the efforts of PAC 3 in order to develop shared capacity for QI advancement and improved patient outcomes.…”