Quality and Patient Safety
Quality/Patient Safety Goal:
Quality and Patient Safety
Akron Children’s Hospital is committed to providing high-quality care and advancing pediatric medicine.
To ensure every child receives the best possible care, our quality teams are engaged in a continual search for how we can improve every aspect of care, safety and patient experience. Our goal is to ensure all children have access to care that meets their unique physical, mental and developmental needs. In our quest to achieve the best outcomes, we work with many quality improvement collaboratives to develop and implement new standards of care. We also rely on the input of our patients and families to help us better understand their needs as we strive to create a safe, welcoming environment that promotes healing.
Related Resources
Quality Goals
To achieve our goals, we use the 6 Aims of Health Care, as developed by the Institute of Medicine. This framework gives us a basis to analyze our performance and implement quality improvement projects.
PATIENT-CENTERED
Respecting the values, needs and preferences of our patients and their familiesLEARN MORE
EQUITABLE
Providing care that does not vary, regardless of gender, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic statusLEARN MORE
The Quality and Safety Team
Akron Children’s Quality Cabinet is led by Chief Quality Officer Dr. Michael Bigham, with the assistance of Medical Director, Patient and Staff Safety Wendy Van Ittersum and Sr. Director of Quality Services Jodi Simon. The Quality Cabinet is supported by targeted steering committees, and the teams are comprised of clinical, analytical, operational and effectiveness specialists deployed throughout our hospital system.
Wendy Van Ittersum, MD Medical Director, Patient and Staff Safety wvanittersum@akronchildrens.org Safety administration responsibilities for all patients and employees.
Resources
Find more information below:
Related Resources
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS)
- The Joint Commission (TJC)
- Thedacare Center for Healthcare Value
- Institute of Medicine (IOM)
- Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS)
- The Beryl Institute-Improving the Patient Experience
- Press Ganey: Healthcare Performance Improvement
