Quality of care for common pediatric respiratory infections: shortfalls and improvements

Respiratory infections are common in children and are responsible for serious morbidity, significant mortality and large healthcare expenditures worldwide. Three of the most common respiratory infections in children are bronchiolitis, croup and community-acquired pneumonia. Despite advances in the care of children with respiratory infections, shortfalls in the safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered domains of quality remain. This article reviews and summarizes the advances that have improved the quality of care for bronchiolitis, croup and community-acquired pneumonia during the last 5 years and identifies shortfalls that must be addressed. In this article, we also discuss the future of the quality of care for pediatric respiratory infections.