Quality improvement dissemination in pediatric surgery: The APSA quality and safety toolkit

Shared experiential learning is critical in the field of pediatric surgery to support the translation of evidence into practice. Surgeons who develop QI interventions in their own institutions based on the best available evidence create work products that can accelerate similar projects in other institutions, rather than continuously reinventing the wheel. The American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) Quality and Safety Committee (QSC) toolkit was created to facilitate knowledge-sharing and thereby hasten the development and implementation of QI. The toolkit is an expanding open-access web-based repository of curated QI projects that includes evidence-based pathways and protocols, stakeholder presentations, parent/patient educational materials, clinical decision support (CDS) tools, and other components of successful QI interventions in addition to contact information for the surgeons who developed and implemented them. This resource catalyzes local QI endeavors by showcasing a range of projects that can be adapted to fit the needs of a given institution, and it also serves as a network to connect interested surgeons with successful implementers. As healthcare shifts towards value-based care models, quality improvement becomes increasingly important, and the APSA QSC toolkit will continue to adapt to the evolving needs of the pediatric surgery community.