Bayshore Home Health leads project to improve health outcomes for children and families

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Jan. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Bayshore Home Health, one of Canada's leading providers of home and community health care services, is spearheading an initiative to improve paediatric care in Canada. The Pediatric Outcome Measures project will develop national, inter-professional, evidence-based pediatric health outcome measures.

"Our goal is to improve pediatric care for children by encouraging research and by soliciting input from subject experts so that national outcome measures can be developed," says Holly Quinn, chief nursing officer for Bayshore Home Health. "These evidence-based measures will help ensure the highest quality, integrated care for Canadian families while making the best use of scarce health care resources."

A diverse group of stakeholders representing research, clinical practice and health policy will work with Bayshore on the project. The Hospital for Sick Children, the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres (CAPHC), Health Outcomes for Better Information and Care (HOBIC) and other organizations participated in a symposium in December 2011 to develop a road map for this initiative. It also served to identify additional sponsors to fund and provide political support.

"Outcome measures shift the focus of medical care from 'tasks' to 'outcomes'," adds Anna Cooper, Bayshore's clinical practice leader for pediatrics. "Outcome measures provide health care professionals with more information to evaluate the care they're providing and thereby improve administrative decisions regarding resource allocation and performance measurement."

The project's steering committee is establishing the framework to support and identify a lead research organization that will begin development of the measures. The expanded steering and sub committees will meet in April 2012 to capture participants' updates into the draft outline. A larger, national meeting is scheduled for October 2012, after which work will begin on identifying the national pediatric outcomes to support excellence in care.

"Outcome measures for children are quite distinct from those developed for adults," concludes Quinn." The development of the child, as well as their family, needs to be incorporated into the outcome measures given that parents prefer their child live at home, rather than in an institution."

About Bayshore Home Health
Bayshore Home Health delivers a wide range of nursing, personal care, home support and companion services to more than 70,000 clients every year, primarily in their homes. These services are purchased by government care programs, insurance companies, workers' compensation boards and the public. It also provides nurse and caregiver staffing services to health care organizations and the corporate sector, and operates more than 50 administrative offices and two-dozen community care clinics nationally. The company's goal is to enhance the quality of life, well-being, dignity and independence of Canadians of all ages, especially seniors. Bayshore Home Health is a division of Bayshore HealthCare, a leading Canadian-owned provider of home and community health care services and a recipient of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies award since 2006.