Congratulations to the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (WCAAP) for their Best Starts for Kids Adolescent Immunization Improvement Partnership award! They will receive up to $440,000 over two years.
The Best Starts for Kids Adolescent Immunization Improvement Partnership strategy will establish an Improvement Partnership (IP) aimed at increasing adolescent immunization coverage rates in King County. As defined by the National Improvement Partnership Network, “an IP is a durable regional collaboration of public and private partners that uses measurement-based efforts and a systems approach to improve child health outcomes and the quality of their healthcare.” The King County IP will be managed by WCAAP under the leadership of Public Health Seattle & King County. It will bring together key stakeholders across the health care system that will advance quality improvement efforts in the clinical setting as well as coordinate efforts aimed at reducing systemic barriers to increasing vaccination coverage. WCAAP is deeply networked with the pediatric primary care provider network and has a strong background in quality improvement and vaccine promotion.
“First and foremost, WCAAP is excited to reduce preventable disease. We are also grateful for the opportunity to facilitate a long-term collaboration of stakeholders invested in health care quality, joined by a common purpose of improving child health.” –Sarah Rafton, MSW, Executive Director of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
In the process of developing this program over the last year, Best Starts gained a deeper understanding of the resources required to effectively support regional child and adolescent health improvement efforts. Moving forward, the Best Starts for Kids program will reflect the National Improvement Partnership Network’s Improvement Partnership model. This will expand the scope of the program to better provide a sustainable strategy to ensure that all adolescents receive appropriate and timely vaccines as well as address other child health priorities. Beginning in 2019, the quality improvement learning collaborative will be a part of the Improvement Partnership.