Neonatal and Pediatric Medicine
Open Access

Abstract

In any health care setting, as health services improve, together with survival figures, emphasis should essentially shift to improving quality of care. Contrary to popular belief, Quality Improvement (QI) does not need excessive financial inputs, expensive infrastructure or outsourced expertise. The Process of Quality Improvement (POQI) method shows how QI could be done at an institutional level utilizing the available resources and manpower. POQI is based on 4 simple rules, identifying the problem (making an AIM statement), finding the root cause of the problem (by using Fish Bone (root cause) analysis, 5-whys or Pareto charts), identifying the current processes and point of care issues which are causing/leading to the problem with possible interventions to overcome the problem (Process Flow chart) and devising a mechanism to overcome the problem; Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle (PDSA cycle). Two simple examples will be taken (e.g. preventing post-partum hemorrhage in the mother and preventing hypothermia in the newborn) to demonstrate how this methodology could be used to improving quality of care using locally available expertise and resources.

Biography

Dulanie Gunasekera is a Consultant Pediatrician and Professor of Pediatrics. She is the current Chair and Academic Head of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Sri Lanka. Her interests are in neonatology, breast feeding promotion, immunization and dengue infection and has authored over 40 publications in peer reviewed national and international journals. She is also a Master Trainer for the POQI method of quality improvement. She has been Past President of the Sri Lanka College of Pediatricians and the Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka, during she was instrumental in promoting basic newborn care in the peripheral regions of Sri Lanka.
Email:dulaniegunasekera@sjp.ac.lk