Quality improvement approaches to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in the neonatal intensive care unit

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Health equity
• Quality improvement

Background:

• Persistent inequities in neonatal care quality and outcomes exist.
• Current quality improvement (QI) models may not address diverse patient needs.
• Existing QI approaches often overlook social disparity metrics like race/ethnicity and primary language.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline a framework for using quality improvement (QI) to achieve health equity in neonatal care.
• To identify essential components for a QI approach that addresses disparities.
• To highlight the need for systemic changes to tackle underlying social inequities.

Main Methods:

• Integrating equity goals from project inception.
• Including diverse family members in multidisciplinary teams.
• Tracking outcomes and processes by social disparity metrics.
• Developing targeted interventions for high-risk social groups.

Main Results:

• A QI framework can be adapted to promote health equity in neonatal settings.
• Specific strategies are crucial for addressing disparities in infant care.
• Systemic commitment to diversity and inclusion is necessary.

Conclusions:

• Quality improvement (QI) offers a powerful structure to address neonatal care disparities.
• Achieving health equity requires intentional inclusion of diverse populations and targeted interventions.
• Broader societal and healthcare system changes are essential to reduce underlying social inequities impacting neonatal care.