Families come to CHoR for the best care when they need it most, and we’re committed to going above and beyond the status quo in making sure that’s exactly what they get. Quality and safety are at the forefront of every decision we make.

Dr. Matt Schefft, a pediatric hospital medicine physician and the physician liaison for the Children’s Tower planning and construction, has recently taken on a new leadership role – associate chief quality and safety officer. He's also a dad, so he knows firsthand how important it is for families to have convenient access to quality health care for their kids.

Dr. Schefft explains the focus on quality and safety at CHoR

Why are you passionate about quality and safety?

When families bring their children to us for care, they are trusting that we will provide the best and safest care possible. As a parent myself, I expect nothing less. My passion is about ensuring that we do everything possible to keep that promise and treat every patient the way we would expect our children to be treated.

What are your areas of focus during the first several months in your new leadership role?

We have a lot of great quality and safety work happening thanks to champions like Dr. Jose Muñoz and Jeniece Roane. In these first few months, I want to connect the work already happening, remove barriers, and communicate our shared goals and priorities between units and departments that will allow us to work smarter, not harder, as we continue to improve care for our patients.  

Why is this work so important?

Health care is one of the most complex industries, far more complex than aviation or tech, because of our system complexities, as well as how much we don’t know about how the human body works. Unfortunately, we know that despite our best efforts, patients experience harm in every hospital and clinic around the country. Our work here at CHoR is part of a long journey to make these complex systems of care as safe and equitable as possible.

What are you most proud of when it comes to quality and safety at CHoR?

While it’s exciting to be ranked among the nation’s best children’s hospitals, what’s really meaningful to me is that these rankings were driven in part by improvements in quality and safety. This is evident in success rates of procedures, low infection levels and processes we have in place to ensure high quality care. We have incredible people and teams that understand our mission. When the nurses, doctors and team members are all aligned on the importance of safe, high-quality care, it makes my job easy and really fun!

How does the new Children’s Tower support quality and safety efforts?

The Children’s Tower supports our work in three keys ways. First, it is a place that our team is excited to come every day. Second, the open concept promotes staff communication to help break down silos and promote collaboration. Third, the design really puts the patient and family at the center of the care we provide which always improves quality and safety.

How do we track progress of our quality and safety efforts?

We have some key metrics that we always follow like hand washing, hospital readmissions and safety events. We are also in the process of developing and refining CHoR-focused metrics that align with our key priorities around safety first, communication, equity and caring for each other.

What do you want families to know when they bring their children to CHoR?

CHoR is committed to providing world-class care that prioritizes the safety of our patients, families and staff. We rely on you to help make us better every day. If you see something we could be doing better, please let our team know or email me at matthew.schefft@vcuhealth.org.

Discover more about the patient-centered approach to care through quality and safety initiatives at CHoR.