Accelerating improvement: The Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative data timeliness project

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Cardiology
• Health Informatics
• Quality Improvement Science

Background:

• The Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC3) learning network faces challenges with data submission timeliness, impacting benchmarking, quality improvement (QI), and research.
• Data submission efficiency is crucial for the success of clinical registries and collaborative efforts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement a collaborative-wide quality improvement (QI) project to enhance data submission timeliness and efficiency within the PAC3 registry.
• To increase case submission timeliness in 'High Potential' centers from 41% to 80% and maintain timeliness in 'High Performer' centers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles, including webinars, facilitated discussions, and a 'Getting Started Toolkit'.
• Included 'New Centers' in the intervention phase to assess effectiveness for newly onboarded sites.
• Monitored balancing measures such as data collector job satisfaction, stress levels, and data resubmission rates.

Main Results:

• Timely case submission rates for 'High Potential' centers improved from 40.6% to 74.6%.
• 'High Performer' centers maintained timely submission rates above 90%.
• 'New Centers' achieved an average of 92.6% timely submissions in their initial six months, with no adverse impact on staff satisfaction or resubmission rates.

Conclusions:

• The PAC3 QI project successfully enhanced data submission timeliness in a large pediatric subspecialty registry.
• The developed 'Getting Started Toolkit' and lessons learned offer a transferable model for other registries to improve data efficiency.
• Improved data timeliness can lead to enhanced benchmarking, research capabilities, and ultimately, better patient outcomes.