Quality Improvement Collaboratives
The Alabama Chapter-AAP supports pediatric practices in improving the care delivered to infants, children and adolescents.
Through the Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance (ACHIA), the Chapter is a partner in developing and implementing practice collaboratives around areas of care in need of improvement such as improving obesity prevention and treatment or increasing screening to identify children at risk of developmental delay at ages where intervention is most beneficial. Approved for Maintenance of Certification Part 4 by the American Board of Pediatrics, these collaboratives provide practice-based improvement through evidence-based content, QI coaching to implement workflow changes, technical assistance in collecting and interpreting QI data, as well as information about coding the level of care delivered.
ENROLLING NOW: Breathe Alabama Asthma CQI Collaborative
The Alabama Chapter-AAP and ACHIA are enrolling practices now through December 31, 2017 for our "Breathe Alabama: An ACHIA Asthma Learning Collaborative" to increase the number of children who adhere to an asthma action plan and have improved asthma control through effective and evidence-based practice strategies.
Click here for details on this collaborative and how to sign up!
Previous projects
Prevent HPV Cancers Today! An ACHIA HPV Vaccine QI Collaborative
Fewer than half of Alabama’s teenage girls complete the HPV vaccinations series, and the rate of completions for boys is so low that it is difficult to measure. This lack of coverage makes these children at much higher risk for HPV-associated cervical, mouth and neck cancers. From March to August 2016, 13 practices from around the state worked in this collaborative to reduce their patients’ cancer risk by increasing the number of HPV vaccines delivered by 13 years of age. Practices participating in “Prevent HPV Cancers Today!: an ACHIA CQI Collaborative” improved HPV vaccine initiation and completion rates for 11- and 12-year-olds by at least 10 percent; vaccine initiation increased from 62 percent to 79 percent, with similar uptake among boys and girls. The administration of doses 2 and 3 to complete the HPV series increased from a baseline of 78 to 94 percent! For details, see this page-at-a-glance look-back of this project.
HELP ME GROW ALABAMA: Developmental Screening QI Collaborative - May 2015-January 2016
Ten practices in Alabama, with a high concentration in Tuscaloosa and Jefferson counties, participated in this collaborative, which aimed to increase the number of children screened using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire and the Help Me Grow care coordination. See the full project outcomes in this one-page look-back.
HEALTHY ACTIVE LIVING: An ACHIA Obesity Prevention and Treatment QI Collaborative - August 2014-August 2015
Eleven pediatric practices participating in this year-long collaborative, which impacted care in 90,000 office visits. Check out the full details on how this project improved outcomes in these practices.
Asthma - 2009 - 2012
Through three collaboratives, pediatricians from across the state achieved 90 percent optimal asthma care, 92 percent use of an asthma action plan, and 98 percent use of a validated instrument.
A hallmark of QI collaboratives is the ability for practices to share their successes with one another.
ACHIA's obesity collaborative learning session in summer 2014 included a fun physical activity exercise for participating pediatricians and their staffs
History
With a strong desire to build Chapter capacity for quality improvement, the Alabama Chapter-AAP's QI journey began in 2009. After establishing a QI Committee and embedding quality as a standard priority in the Chapter's strategic plan, the AL-AAP responded to and was awarded the American Academy of Pediatrics' Chapter Quality Network asthma grant project opportunity that year. With the AAP's guidance, 12 Alabama practices collaborated to achieve measurable improvements in asthma outcomes, and the Chapter's foray into QI was launched. In 2013, the Alabama Chapter-AAP brought experts from the National Improvement Partnership Network to Alabama to work with thought leaders from across the state to explore the establishment of a state Child Health Improvement Partnership, mirroring similar initiatives in more than 20 states.
From there, the Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance (ACHIA) was born, with a host of partners and University of Alabama at Birmingham General Pediatrician Cason Benton, MD, FAAP serving as part-time Medical Director, leading the charge for pediatric quality improvement in Alabama moving forward.
Alabama Q-Sort
In 2016, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health led stakeholders representing a cross-section of child health interests in a "sort" or prioritization of 51 quality measures culled from Bright Futures, state payor metrics and national standards. The results will provide the foundation for ACHIA to marshal resources to support practices around the state as they tackle continuous quality improvement.
Learn more
To learn more about how to get involved, contact Linda Champion, MPA, Chapter Project Coordinator, at 334-324-9307, or visit ACHIA's website or contact staff here:
Alabama Child Health Improvement Alliance
1600 7th Avenue South CPPI -310
Birmingham, AL | 35233
205.638.6776