NICHQ News

As the leader of a multi-year, national initiative to reduce infant mortality rates and disparities across populations, NICHQ is heartened by the announcement March 21 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that U.S. infant mortality rates have decreased 15 percent from 2005 to 2014. The report also shows the U.S. infant mortality rate reached new lows for almost all populations.

NICHQ  is partnering in a research study of long-term impact of environmental exposures in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The study, Developmental Impact of NICU Exposures (DINE), is led by investigators at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with funding from the National Institutes of Health as part of its seven-year Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes initiative (ECHO).

Two new members have been elected to NICHQ’s board of directors. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, PhD, MPA-URP, and Gregory Serrao both bring unique skills and experiences in improving healthcare services and social determinants of health and health equity for children and underserved populations.

NICHQ today announced the launch of its annual campaign to combat infant mortality in conjunction with Infant Mortality Awareness Month. Throughout the month of September, NICHQ will continue its efforts to bring awareness to the shockingly high infant mortality rate in the United States while helping empower women to prepare for healthy pregnancies that result in healthy children.

NICHQ has again been chosen by the U.S. Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to lead a critical program for improving the health of the nation’s children and families. NICHQ will be the coordinating center for the Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network (ECCS CoIIN). The five-year initiative will support 12 states and their communities in an effort to enhance early childhood systems and demonstrate improved outcomes in population-based children’s developmental health and family well-being indicators.

NICHQ's flagship collaborative improvement and innovation network (CoIIN) initiative focused on reducing infant mortality rates, known as the Infant Mortality CoIIN, has been extended by one year, through September 2017. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) prolonged their funded initiative to support states in their improvement efforts including data collection and the dissemination of lessons learned.

NICHQ is working with the Institute for Medicaid Innovation (IMI) to reduce childhood obesity and improve treatment plans among Medicaid recipients. Over the course of two projects, known as the Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment (CHOPT) projects, NICHQ will conduct a series of face-to-face interviews with families about how obesity programs affect their health and convene a meeting of CHOPT stakeholders, including healthcare providers and families, to discuss childhood obesity and how to best address it in this targeted population.

Three states have been selected to participate in the Improving Children's Vision: Systems, Stakeholders & Support initiative aimed at making improvements in the systems supporting children's vision and eye health, with a special focus on reducing the prevalence of vision problems in hard-to-reach populations of young children.

Joann Petrini, PhD, MPH, has joined NICHQ’s executive team as the Chief Science Officer. In this role she provides leadership and guidance on NICHQ's content and evaluation strategy, oversight of all contracts and grant-funded projects, and standardization of research protocols and metrics across NICHQ's programs.

NICHQ has elected two new members to its board of directors. Calvin Johnson, MD, MPH, and Joseph Wright, MD, MPH, both bring extensive experience and passion for ensuring access to quality healthcare services for underserved populations.

The National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness (NCCVEH) and NICHQ are issuing a call for applications to public health professionals, early educators, community vision programs, eye care professionals, primary healthcare provider groups and family advocates to join the quality improvement collaborative, Improving Children's Vision: Systems, Stakeholders & Support.

The NewSTEPs 360 program has selected 20 states that will endeavor to improve newborn screening and save the lives of babies who are born with rare but serious conditions. These states are the initial cohort supported through a $5.4 million dollar funding initiative from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).