Qualities of successful pediatric and congenital cardiovascular programs: Cardiology 2025
Dr. Franklin’s talk offered his observations of how the administrative backbone behind clinical care supports a thriving center for infants and children with congenital heart disease and their families.
Wayne Franklin, MD, FACC, senior vice president of Children’s National Heart Center, joined a panel discussion at Cardiology 2025: The 28th Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease. The panel, Healthcare Administration in Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease: Sharing Challenges and Creating Solutions, sought to identify the traits that successful U.S. healthcare programs, and especially pediatric cardiovascular programs, have in common.
Dr. Franklin’s talk, “Structuring Administration for Pediatric & Congenital Cardiovascular Care,” offered his observations of how the administrative backbone behind clinical care supports a thriving center for infants and children with congenital heart disease and their families.
The big picture
Dr. Franklin noted that the best programs are finding successful combinations of the right ingredients to make the “secret sauce” — focus on high quality care being delivered in ways that are financially sustainable. More than ever, this is hard to accomplish.
Today’s pediatric programs are often organized in an academic model where clinicians are employed by a university or medical school, typically within a Department of Pediatrics, with pediatric subspecialties all falling together under that department. While the academic model has been successful up to this point, there may be valuable lessons to learn and opportunities for further success by looking at outcomes from other models in the broader adult healthcare sector.
Key takeaways
Dr. Franklin offered several examples of key models for pediatric heart centers to consider. They include:
- A multi-disciplinary, “service-line centered” structure: All doctors, nurses, advanced practice providers and support staff aligned together under a “center” or “institute” model, similar to the Cleveland Clinic’s Institutes of Excellence.
- A blended, “privademic” structure for clinicians, where they are direct employees of a hospital, but not of a larger university or healthcare system.
- Clinician leadership and engagement in business administration structure and function, to make sure that patients remain front and center in business decisions.
- Dedicated quality and safety teams that are driven by data and outcomes, foster frequent and early communication and ensure care providers actively engage with these efforts.
- A model that supports innovations in care and investments in research to continue advancing best practices for patients and families.
- A system for education and training to make sure the next generation can effectively carry on the established culture of excellence.
What matters most
No matter the structure, the most important and common theme among successful health systems, hospitals and even specific heart programs, is steadfast, organization-wide dedication to decision making driven by what is best for patients. This approach should drive a focus on early detection and/or prevention, and lead to positive outcomes, which ultimately brings financial sustainability.
See more about Children’s National at this year’s meeting: Cardiology 2025: 28th Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease.
