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Quality improvement in neonatal and perinatal medicine covered in Clinics in Perinatology

Philadelphia, PA, April 15, 2010 – The March 2010 issue of Clinics in Perinatology (www.perinatology.theclinics.com), published by Elsevier, provides Neonatologists and Maternal-Fetal-Medicine specialists with the tools and concepts necessary to understand Quality Improvement (QI) methodology and to initiate QI projects within their own practices and neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

With the American Board of Pediatrics recently making quality improvement part of its program for the Maintenance of Certification process, this issue of Clinics in Perinatology comes at an important time for physicians when participation in quality initiatives is being recognized as a core of their medical career.

Guest Editors Alan R. Spitzer, MD (Senior Vice President and Director, Center for Research, Education, and Quality, Pediatrix Medical Group) and Dan L. Ellsbury, MD (Director, Continuous Quality Improvement, Pediatrix Medical Group) have invited some of the world’s foremost QI leaders to share their expertise on a variety of topics addressing the tools and specific applications of Quality Improvement methodology in Neonatal-Perinatal practice.

The issue includes articles on topics such as: “Crossing the Quality Chasm” in neonatal and perinatal care, QI methodologies and measurement, human factors related to QI, using evidence-based medicine, and the role of data collection, as well as tools for “Meaningful Use”, quality-assurance procedures, pay for performance, and collaboration between obstetricians and neonatologists. Various QI programs and resources offered by Pediatrix Medical Group, the Vermont Oxford Network, and the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative are also reviewed. Specific applications of QI practices are covered in articles addressing the improvement of outcomes and delivery room interventions, comprehensive oxygen management for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity (COMP-ROP), the use of human milk, decreasing central line associated infections, and improving chronic lung disease.

Drs. Spitzer and Ellsbury highlight that while quality improvement has been an integral part of Neonatal and Maternal-Fetal Medicine for decades, outcome evaluation and the role of QI processes in improving patient care is quickly becoming an even larger part of the physician’s daily life. As a result, their focus as guest editors is on the agenda of QI in continuing to move neonatal-perinatal outcomes in a positive direction for all physicians who “remain deeply committed to our infants surviving with the fewest possible adverse outcomes”.

For more information about this issue, visit the Clinics in Perinatology website at www.perinatology.theclinics.com.

About Clinics in Perinatology

Published quarterly, each issue of Clinics in Perinatology focuses on a single topic relevant to your practice. Comprehensive, state-of-the-art reviews by experts in the field provide current, practical information on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the mother, fetus, and neonate.

The Clinics were introduced in February 1912 with publication of the first issue of the Surgical Clinics of North America. Today, there are nearly 60 different Clinics titles, each one covering a distinct area of surgery, medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, and dentistry.

About Pediatrix

Pediatrix Medical Group is a national medical group that comprises the nation’s leading provider of neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric physician subspecialty services. Physicians and advanced practitioners practicing as part of Pediatrix are reshaping the delivery of care within their specialties and subspecialties, using evidence-based tools, continuous quality initiatives and clinical research to enhance patient outcomes and provide high-quality, cost-effective care. Pediatrix Medical Group was founded in 1979 and now includes neonatal physicians who provide services at more than 275 neonatal intensive care units, who collaborate with affiliated maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric cardiology and pediatric intensivist physician subspecialists to provide a clinical care continuum. Pediatrix is also the nation’s largest provider of newborn hearing screens. Combined, Pediatrix and its affiliated professional corporations employ more than 1,300 neonatal, maternal-fetal and pediatric subspecialists and 575 advanced practitioners in 33 states and Puerto Rico. Additional information is available at www.pediatrix.com.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including the Lancet (www.thelancet.com) and Cell (www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier’s online solutions include ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (www.scopus.com), Reaxys (www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (www.scival.com) and MEDai’s Pinpoint Review (www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier (www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).




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