New technologies, improved medications, advanced monitoring, and increased attention to treating pediatric pain and discomfort has led to increased demand for pediatric sedation in the last 10 years. The exponential growth has led to wide variations in all aspects of pediatric sedation practice. Recognizing the inconsistencies in current pediatric sedation practices, the Society for Pediatric Sedation will convene a multidisciplinary expert group of sedation providers and quality methodology experts with the task to begin the process of defining quality as it relates to the field of pediatric sedation. The invited participants will convene at the Society of Pediatric Sedation Consensus Meeting: Defining Quality in Pediatric Sedation in October of 2011. Six small workgroups comprised of meeting participants from around the United States will be organized around the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 6 aims of quality: Safe, Effective, Patient Centered, Timely, Efficient, and Equitable. The workgroups will explore areas of consensus around the aims as they relate to pediatric sedation. The objective of the consensus meeting is to produce for dissemination: 1) definitions of the IOM's six aims of quality as they relate to pediatric sedation;2) recommendations on how quality can be measured within the field of pediatric sedation;3) an assessment of established protocols and practices related to pediatric sedation and others needed to establish quality benchmarks;and, 4) recommended research and educational priorities for the field to further the work in defining and measuring quality within pediatric sedation. The meeting findings will address the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission of improving quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. The Society of Pediatric Sedation is dedicated to addressing the health care needs of this priority population identified by AHRQ.
Narrative The mission of the Society for Pediatric Sedation is to be the multidisciplinary leader in the advancement of pediatric sedation by promoting safe, high quality care, innovative research and quality professional education. Funding through the AHRQ Small Grant Program for Conference Support will provide a forum for pediatric sedation and quality experts to gather and begin establishing, for the first time, quality standards, metrics and research priorities around pediatric sedation. The body of work produced through the consensus meeting will improve the individual and public health of one of our vulnerable populations - children - by establishing much needed quality standards and initiatives regarding sedation.
