LO35: A province-wide quality improvement collaborative for treatment of children's pain in Alberta's emergency departments

Background: Pediatric pain is often under-treated in emergency departments (EDs), causing short and long-term harm. In Alberta EDs, children's pain outcomes were unknown. A recent quality improvement collaborative (QIC) led by our team improved children's pain care in 4 urban EDs. We then spread to all EDs in Alberta using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Framework for Going to Full Scale. Aim Statement: To increase the proportion of children Measures & Design: All 97 EDs in Alberta that treat children were invited. Each was asked to form a project team, attend webinars, develop key driver diagrams and perform PDSA tests of change. Sites were given a monthly list of randomly selected charts for audit and entered data in REDCap for upload to a provincial run chart dashboard. Baseline performance measurement informed aims. Measures included proportion of children Evaluation/Results: 36 sites (37%) participated, including rural and urban sites from all regions. 8417 visits were audited. 23/36 sites completed audits before and after tests of change and were analyzed. Special cause occurred for all aims. The proportion receiving topical anesthetic increased from 11% to 30% (ITS p  Discussion/Impact: A pragmatic approach encouraging locally led change was well-received and key to success. The QIC method shows promise for improving outcomes in diverse EDs across large geographic areas. Next steps include further spread and sustainability measurement.