Abstract

GONZALEZ-DAMBRAUSKAS, Sebastián et al. Collaboration as a tool to improve children´s healthcare through a Latin American Pediatric Network: LARed. Arch. Pediatr. Urug. [online]. 2018, vol.89, n.3, pp.194-202. ISSN 0004-0584.  https://doi.org/10.31134/ap.89.3.7.

Pediatric collaborative networks are a proven and transformational mean of accelerating the translation of evidence into clinical practice and have expanded steadily in this century. They have become a tool for innovation and improving value in healthcare, engaging clinicians, researchers, patients and families in different healthcare settings. Inspired by the Vermont Oxford Network experience, a group of Uruguayan health professional volunteers started a collaborative pediatric intensive care network called LARed in 2014. Committed to improving healthcare quality and safety, they set up a strong community that has expanded exponentially to the rest of Latin America and presently includes 30 pediatric intensive care units from 8 countries. The network’s philosophy lies on 4 pillars: measure, learn, improve and share, so that the best-performing centers can become leaders in excellence to the general collaboration group. In order to better achieve these goals, LARed dedicates resources to research coordination, educational and quality improvement initiatives, combines collective peer efforts and manintains web-based online databases (over 2,000 children at present) set up to analyze real world practice interventions and outcomes, thus transforming information into action. This paper describes LARed development, explains its goals, vision and mission, and summarizes the activities and programs carried out since it was first created.

Keywords : Critical care; Community networks; Pediatrics; Quality of health care; Quality improvement.

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