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Imagine you had multiple best practices for reducing cesarean sections (c-section) rates in your state but wanted to know which would have the most impact and all you had to do was push a few buttons to find out. That is exactly what a simulation model is doing in the state of New Jersey. Simulation…
With an infant mortality rate of 4.4 per 1,000 births, Vermont has one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the country, but, the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) knows there is always room for improvement. As a part of the NICHQ-led Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (Infant Mortality CoIIN) since…
The abuse of prescription drugs is a national problem. Sadly, it’s not just adults that are afflicted by this troublesome trend. Over 20,000 babies are born each year dependent on illegal or prescription drugs and suffer neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a type of opiate withdrawal. That’s the equivalent of one baby every 25 minutes.1,2 NAS…
Not only does smoking make it harder for a woman to conceive, tobacco use during pregnancy increases the rate of stillbirth, preterm birth, birth defects, low birth weight and infant mortality. Despite this information, some states have consistently high rates of women who smoke while pregnant. Many pregnant women know it’s best to stop…
Quality improvement in public health means working through every sector and influence that affects how people live. At the highest level, this includes the rules and laws where people live. This is what happened in Missouri as part of the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment and Demonstration Program (SCDTDP). As teams were working towards creating better…
The NICHQ-led Best Fed Beginnings initiative has made it possible for 218,000 more babies to be born in Baby-Friendly hospitals every year. This means that more moms receive breastfeeding education and support that adhere to “Baby-Friendly” criteria for care. Thus, families are empowered to make better-educated decisions about breastfeeding and follow-through on them all across the country. …
When a 2014 report showed one child almost every three days in Virginia died related to a preventable unsafe sleep environment, leaders at the Virginia Department of Health knew it was time to take action. “Everyone wants their baby to thrive, but too many people don’t know the risk factors and protective measures for safe…
Flexibility plays a central role in one of the key aspects of sustained improvement: empowering team members to generate ideas and to test and implement successful changes.
Parents of children with special health needs become experts on their children’s condition in a way that doctors and administrators cannot. Their countless hours on the front line, navigating the healthcare system and other community resources, gives them invaluable insight into how these systems work (and do not work) for them. That is why NICHQ…
In all types of quality improvement efforts, sustainability is a vital consideration that often goes overlooked until the project’s final stages. With the right balance of foresight and strategy, however, team leaders can plan for sustainability as a project gets underway. This lets teams seamlessly support sustainability and a create quality improvement projects with truly…