HJAR Jul/Aug 2019

54 JUL / AUG 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of ARKANSAS column CHILDREN’S HEALTH Nationally Recognized Pediatric Surgical Services Close ToHome Level 1 verification, valid for three years, recognizes surgery centers whose quality improvement programs have enhanced the quality of children’s surgeries, prevent- ed complications, reduced costs, and most importantly, saved lives. The distinction shows Arkansas Chil- dren’s Hospital: • Has a comprehensive staff of medical and surgical specialists ready to care for children 24/7 • Offers wide-ranging resources to ad- dress the most complex conditions • Presents ongoing education for families, pediatricians, and others • Participates in a robust national data registry yielding semiannual reports of quality • Engages in academic research that en- sures evidence-based best practices are used at the bedside with patients Sid Dassinger, MD, Professor of Surgery at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Medical Director of Surgical Quality at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, shares more about this prestigious verification and what it means for patients and families. Q: What was your involvement with the verification as the Medical Director of Surgical Quality? A: Kim Rhodes APN, Children’s Surgery Program Manager, and I are responsible for integrating quality improvement into all aspects of children’s surgery – from pre-hospital visits to operative care to follow-up with referring facilities. This integration is facilitated through monthly meetings of our Performance Improve- ment & Patient Safety (PIPS) committee, which I chair. In this way, Kim and I spear- headed ACH’s efforts to obtain Level 1 ver- ification. Q: When did Arkansas Children’s Hos- pital begin the voluntary process of completing the verification application? What were the criteria established by the ACS that had to be met? A: Arkansas Children’s Hospital is al- ready verified as a Level 1 Pediatric Trau- ma Center, and has been for many years, Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) has been verified as a Level 1 Children’s Surgical Cen- ter by the American College of Surgeons through its Children’s Surgery Verification Quality Improvement Program (ACS CSV). Arkansas Children’s Hospital be- comes one of only 17 children’s hospitals in the United States, and the only hospital in Arkansas to receive this highest level of designation . Arkansas Children’s Hospital is one of only FIVE hospitals in the United States that holds the Level 1 Children’s Surgical Center verification from theAmerican College of Surgeons, Magnet Recognition ® from theAmerican Nurses Credentialing Center and two Beacon Awards for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.