The rationale for dislocation of interregional specialized surgical care centers for children in the Russian Federation

Introduction. In Russia, there is a need to reorganize the system of providing specialized surgical care to children, primarily in emergency and urgent care and in remote, sparsely populated, and hard-to-reach areas. This need is evidenced by the significant persisting disparities in the mortality rate in the country’s various regions. Purpose of the study. This study aims to provide multifactorial substantiation of the expediency, profile, and location of specialized (surgical) interregional centers (MRC), including high-tech, medical care for children, by the priority profiles of activity, about medical organizations of the federal districts (FD) of Russia. Materials and methods. The study design included a two-level (regional and federal) system of professional expertise and justification in terms of the profile, location, and area of responsibility of the MRC in the federal district of the country. At the regional level, Delphi technology was implemented with a mathematical and statistical analysis of 103 expert opinions from 85 constituent entities of Russia, the result of which activities priority profiles were substantiated (“newborn surgery,” “neurosurgery,” “thoracic surgery,” “oncology,” “combustiology”) and patient routing preferences. At the second stage of the work, with the involvement of federal experts, the SWOT analysis technology was implemented as a universal method of strategic planning, with the justification of the location and number of MRCs in individual FD of the country, about specific medical organizations where they are based. For an objective (quantitative) assessment of the provision of the Federal District of Russia with the MRC of specialized medical care for children according to the established profiles of activity, we have proposed a calculated indicator — the “regional contingency coefficient” (CRC), representing the ratio of two uniformly calculated values — the number of MRCs and regions in a particular Federal District, or the country as a whole. Results. The consolidated position of federal experts regarding the location of the MRC was formulated according to the established profiles of activity about FD and specific medical organizations in the Russian Federation constituent entities. The cattle in the profile of the activity of “neonatal surgery” was 0.14, and about “neurosurgery,” “thoracic surgery,” and “oncology,” respectively, 0.12, 0.11, and 0.11 for Russia as a whole. The lowest (0.09) cattle in the country characterized the situation with the “combustiology” profile. In the overwhelming majority (76.0%), the location of the MRC is tied to the administrative centers of the Federal District or cities of federal significance. Among the 50 MRCs of all priority profiles, 43 (86%) were potentially designated by experts based on multidisciplinary pediatric medical organizations. Discussion. The effectiveness of the MRC functioning is due to the organization of medical and evacuation support for children with diseases and injuries. The development of consultative and resuscitation centers in the primary hospital structure is promising. Its functionality, along with remote counseling, treatment, and evacuation activities, includes monitoring the condition of sick and affected children at the place of primary hospitalization. An alternative is a presence on the clinical base of the MRC of a structural unit or a branch of the regional center for emergency medical care and disaster medicine. Conclusion. Overcoming the inequality in the availability and quality of medical care for children in certain FD and regions of Russia is necessary to reorganize the current system of staged medical care. Optimal logistics of medical and evacuation support for specialized patients and injured people include the MRC as a collector for children in need of specialized care, including high-tech medical care, with the implementation of the predominant principle of “evacuation of oneself.”