Fifty years ago, most children with cystic fibrosis died before they were 10. Many did not live long enough to see the inside of a classroom. But according to the most recent numbers available from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the median age of survival is now 37.4 years – clearly much better, but experts at Cincinnati Children’s know that this number will continue to go up.
There have been some major medical milestones in improving CF care over the years. But much of the improvement witnessed in recent years, can be traced to quality improvement efforts and transparency in regard to outcomes.
The CF Foundation, as part of its quality improvement (QI) initiative, posts care center data on its website. This is designed to increase the rate of improvement in care throughout the Foundation’s cystic fibrosis care center network. You can learn more about this initiative here.
On the CF Foundation website you’ll find impressive outcomes data of the Cincinnati Children’s CF Center.
This wasn’t always the case. Not too many years ago, our quality indicators were run-of-the-mill. But through quality improvement science, “Cincinnati Children’s now outpaces most other CF centers in the nation,” according to U.S.News and World Report, which has just published a lengthy article about our CF Center, naming us a “’best’ hospital for cystic fibrosis kids.”
The CF Foundation website and the U.S. News article are worth a visit. As that article points out, our CF team is still not satisfied. With the help of families that cope with CF every day, we will continue to strive for improved outcomes so that children with CF can expect a long life, well-lived.
