The National Pediatric Readiness Quality Initiative (NPRQI) equips emergency departments (EDs) with tools to measure, evaluate, and improve pediatric clinical care. While children make up 27% of ED visits, many departments have low pediatric volume, lack standardized pediatric care processes, and may not have pediatric-specific quality improvement (QI) plans. NPRQI helps EDs, no matter their pediatric volume or resources, easily implement pediatric QI and ensure children across the U.S. have access to high-quality emergency care.
Why NPRQI matters
High Pediatric Readiness reduces mortality risk by up to 76%, and pediatric QI is among the leading drivers of Pediatric Readiness. Yet only half of EDs have QI plans in place. NPRQI bridges these gaps by offering data-driven tools, evidence-based resources, and standardized processes to measure and improve pediatric clinical care. By and empowering EDs to implement meaningful changes, NPRQI ensures every child receives optimal care, no matter where they live.
Local and national impact
In addition to facilitating improvements within each ED, NPRQI aggregates data from all participating EDs, enabling facilities to benchmark performance and create state and national datasets. These datasets can help highlight variations in care quality across demographics and regions, supporting both local QI efforts and large-scale improvements in pediatric emergency care.
The importance of quality improvement
You can’t improve what you don’t understand. QI is all about using data to inform meaningful, actionable change. NPRQI simplifies QI by offering set metrics, customizable dashboards, and support resources, enabling EDs of all sizes to participate, even without prior QI experience. NPRQI helps EDs identify gaps in quality and be certain that their efforts to improve are making a difference for their patients.
How NPRQI intersects with NPRP and EMSC
NPRQI serves as the implementation arm of the National Pediatric Readiness Project (NPRP). NPRQI helps EDs meet the NPRP recommendation of engaging in pediatric-specific QI and understand how their Pediatric Readiness efforts affect clinical outcomes. NPRQI (and NPRP) are supported in part by the federal Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Program and partner closely with state EMSC teams. NPRQI tools and data support EMSC’s mission to ensure no child is left behind in moments of crisis.
Our funding
NPRQI is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Toyota Way Forward Fund.
Administrative home
NPRQI is housed at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. The University of Texas at Austin IRB has determined that this activity is not human subjects research.
