[Quality care indicators for neonates with selected pathologies: pilot study.]

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care quality assessment
• Healthcare indicator development
• Clinical practice guideline implementation

Background:

• Developing robust quality of care indicators is crucial for improving neonatal outcomes.
• Existing international repositories and national guidelines provide a foundation for indicator development.
• Assessing the feasibility and reliability of indicators is essential before widespread implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot quality of care indicators for neonates with specific conditions in Mexico.
• To evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and usefulness of the developed indicators.
• To propose a set of validated indicators for monitoring neonatal care quality.

Main Methods:

• Indicators were developed based on national clinical practice guidelines and international repositories.
• A selection and prioritization process was used to identify key indicators.
• Indicators were piloted in two Mexican hospitals, with feasibility, reliability (kappa index), and usefulness assessed.

Main Results:

• Twenty-three indicators were selected and piloted; nine were found to be feasible and reliable.
• The quality of hospital data varied and was often poor, impacting indicator feasibility and reliability.
• Opportunities for improvement in care were identified through compliance level analysis.

Conclusions:

• A set of nine valid, reliable, feasible, and useful indicators for monitoring the quality of care for pathological neonates is proposed.
• The study highlights the importance of data quality in the successful implementation of quality indicators.
• The proposed indicators can aid in the continuous monitoring and improvement of neonatal care in Mexico.