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H H S Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Health Resources and Services Administration

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Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice to Improve Public Health

Communities of Practice support collaborative networks of individuals and organizations working together to improve their own operations and the public health. HRSA Communities of Practice have

  • raised the organ donation rate at U.S. hospitals from 54.4 percent to 75 percent;
  • reduced the rate of adverse drug events by nearly half among high-risk patients; and
  • improved the rate of newborn hearing screening to 98 percent.

Featured Community: Newborn Screen Positive Infant ACTion Project

Newborn Screen Positive Infant ACTion works with teams of physicians and other primary care providers to improve care for infants identified through newborn screening as having a treatable inherited disorder. Participants test strategies, including the use of Act Sheets, developed by the American College of Medical Genetics with funding from HRSA, to help physicians respond to out-of-range screening results on the core panel of 29 treatable disorders, many of which are rare and unfamiliar to many primary care providers.

Goal: Develop a national model of care for the short-term management of infants with inherited disorders identified through newborn screening.

Project Aims

  • Improve newborn screening processes in pediatric practices for all children.
  • Improve the processes for managing those children identified with an out-of-range newborn screening result using the ACTion sheets.
  • Test the ACT Sheets for improving new born screening processes.

Learn More

ACT Sheets go to exit disclaimer

Quality Improvement Innovation Network Project website go to exit disclaimer

Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children

The Parent’s Guide to Newborn Screening

National Newborn Screening and Genetics Resource Center go to exit disclaimer