National Institute for Children's Health Quality

NICHQ (National Institute for Children’s Health Quality) is an independent, nonprofit organization working for more than a decade to improve children’s health. We help organizations and professionals who share this mission (typically, healthcare professionals and delivery organizations, foundations, government agencies, and community organizations) make breakthrough improvements so children and families live healthier lives.

Since its founding in 1999 by Dr. Charles Homer, NICHQ has been effective in both raising awareness about the potential for dramatic improvement in children’s healthcare and helping change actual system performance. That original vision continues and has expanded beyond clinical settings to include a focus on many other social and community determinants of children’s health.

In the past 10+ years, NICHQ has reached thousands of pediatric and family practices and worked with city, state, and federal leaders to improve healthcare systems that affect millions of children (and adults) across a broad spectrum of geographic and socioeconomic boundaries. 

Through the expertise of clinical and improvement leaders and parents, NICHQ has directly shaped the quality of care for children and youth in the areas of access and efficiency in ADHD, asthma, autism spectrum disorder, breastfeeding support, childhood obesity, children and youth with special healthcare needs, cystic fibrosis, family- and patient-centered care, medical homes, foster care, low birth weight, newborn hearing screening, parent engagement, and sickle cell disease.