The Children’s Hospital Association awarded its annual Champion of Analytics and Research Excellence Award to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for its use of data in quality improvement efforts to reduce the rate of life-threatening bloodstream infections among immune-suppressed pediatric cancer patients. According to a news release, the award recognizes children’s hospitals for their use of the Children’s Hospital Association’s analytics resources to examine and advance improved, efficient, safe, timely and effective care. It was presented in October at the association’s annual Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.

Nursing staff in the hematology/oncology/transplant inpatient unit at Lurie had set a goal to decrease the incidence of central line-assocated bloodstream infections by 50% percent and increase the practice of recommended maintenance on central vein catheter lines to include 90% of inpatients.

Mary Lynn Rae, RN, MSN, CPON, accepted the award on behalf of the hospital. The work involved a multidisciplinary team of nurses and physicians in utilization of data to standardize central line care as part of the association’s Quality Transformation Network Hematology/Oncology Collaborative. The project required weekly audits and monthly data submission on central line care practices, implementing new approaches to improve performance every 60 to 90 days, and a root cause analysis for all CLABSIs. Education and information sharing was integral to the success of this project.

"As a certified hematology/oncology nurse and clinical educator, Rae and her team showed significant success in preventing blood stream infections in children and demonstrated the importance of collaboration across the children’s hospital community," Mark Wietecha, president and CEO of the association, said in the release. "This quality improvement effort has shown that with common education, tools, and definitions, future achievements — such as spreading the lessons learned across the hospitals into other clinical areas — are attainable."

Lurie Children’s Hospital joined the QTN in April 2011, giving the hospital access to important benchmarking data and opportunities for collaboration with other hospitals that share the goal of reducing CLABSIs in their units. Through the use of a recommended care practices bundle and utilizing both process and outcome data, Lurie Children’s Hospital, along with the 36 participating QTN hospitals engaged in the hematology/oncology work, have been able to drive down CLABSI rates by more than 20 percent since 2009.