Measuring quality of care for vulnerable children: Challenges and conceptualization of a pediatric outcome measure of quality

This article addresses conceptual and practical issues in the assessment of pediatric health care quality, outlines a conceptual model for measuring q uality, and describes ongoing research to validate an outcome measure of he alth care quality for vulnerable children, Pediatric quality measurement is distinct from that for adults due to development, dependence, differential epidemiology, demographic factors, and differences between the child and a dult health services systems. A noncategorical approach to quality measurem ent, rather than one based on illness status or specific condition, is nece ssary to adequately measure quality for the majority of children, both heal thy and ill. One promising noncategorical measure of pediatric health care quality is health outcome, specifically health-related quality of life (HRQ OL). The Pediatric Quality of Life inventory (PedsQL), a brief, practical, reliable, valid, generic pediatric HRQOL measure, is a suitable candidate m easure, On going research to validate the PedsQL as an outcome mea sure of health care quality is described.