Quality Improvement Initiatives

The Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center participates in quality improvement (QI) initiatives through the Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN), the nation's largest and most comprehensive collaboration of hospitals and community members working together to improve health outcomes for people with cerebral palsy (CP). 

QI work focuses on identifying variation in care, standardizing key steps in clinical practice, and measuring whether those changes improve outcomes that matter to patients and families. 

Purpose

The CPRN quality improvement initiatives aim to strengthen everyday care by making important clinical assessments more consistent, more visible in the medical record, and more actionable for treatment planning. The approach emphasizes practical, repeatable improvements in clinic workflows that can be shared across sites, so progress at one center can become better care everywhere.

At the Columbia, our clinicians and faculty contribute to two CPRN QI initiatives. Each brings together clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience to improve screening and treatment for common, high-impact challenges faced by individuals with CP. 

Improving Care for Adults with CP

This CPRN QI initiative focuses on improving how pain is identified and documented during adult cerebral palsy clinic visits, with the goal of improving treatment. The group includes physicians, researchers, nurse practitioners, and adults with CP, working together to strengthen the processes used to screen for pain and classify pain in a consistent way during visits with providers.

Pain is common in adults with CP, but historically it has not been screened or recorded consistently across clinical settings. CPRN’s adult care improvement work has shown that QI methods can meaningfully increase standardized screening across participating centers.

Improving Diagnosis and Care for Persons with Cerebral Palsy and Dystonia

This CPRN QI initiative aims to improve the screening for, understanding, and treatment of dystonia in people with cerebral palsy. The group includes physicians, researchers, nurse practitioners, and caregivers and others with lived experience, working together to improve how dystonia is recognized and addressed in clinical care. 

Dystonia can be common in CP and is often missed in routine visits, which can delay appropriate diagnosis and treatment. CPRN’s dystonia-focused QI work is designed to make identification more consistent and to strengthen clinical pathways that support timely, effective care. 

Ultimately, the goal is better treatment of dystonia and improved day-to-day function and comfort for people with CP who experience it.