Mind the Gap: Spanning the Great Divide Between Perceived and Measured Value of Infectious Disease Physicians

The pediatric infectious disease community has struggled to identify metrics that demonstrate the value that we add to the care of our patients. This challenge is largely a function of our typical role as a consultant in most healthcare settings. Most current quality metrics, however, are designed to measure patient outcomes that are directly affected by the primary clinical team, not the consultants they seek to involve. Novel measurement strategies are needed to capture the value that pediatric infectious disease consultation adds to the health of individual patients and the well-being of populations.