Presented by Cheri Landers, MD and Trish Scherrer, MD
This was an excellent two part presentation – the first providing information on the development of the new Society for Pediatric Sedation Center of Excellence designation and the application process, and the second describing the results of a survey of SPS member institutions (53) specifically addressing to what degree they were already following the quality metrics as recommended at the 2011-2012 consensus conference “Great Expectations: Defining Pediatric Sedation Quality”, (posted on the SPS website).
Development of the application, its scoring rubric and process, and pilot testing were described. The first application cycle resulted in nine applications and six designations of Center of Excellence with very clear cut-off scores between those who were designated and those who were not. This result appears to demonstrate that the application and scoring process works well. The names of these new Centers of Excellence will be posted on the SPS website and the next cycle of applications is now open and extends until September 30th. Both SPS member and non-member institutions can apply, but there are different application fees. It is hoped that the quality of sedation care will improve as institutions strive to meet the standards of a Center of Excellence.
In the second portion of the presentation, Dr. Scherrer presented the data obtained from 52 out of 53 institutions who responded to the survey. (98% response rate!). Most of the respondents were children’s hospitals, either freestanding or as a hospital within a larger medical center. This was an especially rich dataset with data presented according to each of the Institute of Medicine’s quality aims (safe, effective, patient-family centered, timely, efficient and equitable). A summary of the data will be available to SPS members on the SPS website and also will eventually be published for a wider audience.
Finally, the value of being a Center of Excellence was emphasized, noting that having such a designation (like hospital Magnet status for nursing) likely will improve patient and family satisfaction, attract more patients, enhance employee engagement, satisfaction and ability to negotiate, and increase institutional visibility and recognition.
