Leaders to Convene to Set Future Course for Pediatric Quality and Patient Safety, Celebrate 5 Years of Success as Cited in November 2003 IOM report

Child Health Accountability Initiative (CHAI) gathers childrens hospital and industry leaders to chart future, leverage efforts in medication error reduction and pediatric patient safety that are cited as example of special population patient safety initiatives in the Nov. 20, 2003 Institute of Medicine report Patient Safety: Achieving a New Standard for Care"

Who:
John J. Nance, a founding board member of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) and air safety analyst and advocate

Richard A. Norling, president and chief executive officer of Premier, Inc.

David Classen, M.D., vice president of First Consulting Group

Charlie Homer, M.D., M.P.H., chief executive officer, National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality

Denise Dougherty, Ph.D., senior advisor, child health, at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (NICHQ)   Barbara

Rudolph, Ph.D., director of leaps and measures, The Leapfrog Group

Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., ACH Guild endowed chair in child health policy at All Children's Hospital and the University of South Florida

PLUS a CEO Forum of executives from U.S. childrens hospitals participating in Child Health Accountability Initiative (CHAI) -- lessons learned and case studies from rapid-cycle improvement projects in medication safety, pain management, patient safety and evidence-based guidelines for bronchiolitis.

Why:
CHAI, the only multi-site collaborative of childrens hospitals that identifies and implements new knowledge in quality and safety for children, is celebrating its fifth year.

When:
January 14, 2004 8:00 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m.; January 15, 2004 8:00 a.m. -- 11:15 a.m.

Where:
Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118 San Diego, CA. 1 (800) 582-2595

About Child Health Accountability Initiative (CHAI):
Five years ago, chief executive officers and physicians from childrens hospitals and health systems joined with notable child health researchers and industry leaders from Child Health Corporation of America (CHCA), National Association of Childrens Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI), Foundation for Accountability (FACCT), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to evaluate the best way to collaboratively improve pediatric outcomes. Since then, CHAI has emerged as a national leader, implementing rapid improvement projects and forming the foundation for the first national pediatric safety measures. Today, CHAI is a multi-hospital performance improvement collaborative of leading children's hospitals. Its goals are to create new knowledge in quality and safety in pediatrics with initiatives focused on creating error-free children's hospitals.

Note to the media:
Members of the press are welcome to attend the meeting. Advance registration is required. A complete press kit will be available in early December. To be added to mailing list, please contact Mary Theobald at maryt@marytmarketing.com, (816) 331-5191 or Carol Dobies at (816) 753-3336.