The entwined circles of quality improvement & advocacy.

Health policy and quality improvement initiatives exist symbiotically. Quality projects can be spurred by policy decisions, such as the creation of financial incentives for high-value care. Then, advocacy can streamline high-value care, offering opportunities for quality improvement scholars to create projects consistent with evidenced-based care.

Advocacy in neonatology: current issues and introduction to the series.

Advocacy is an increasingly important skill for neonatologists. As social factors play a greater influence on short & long-term newborn outcomes, neonatal physicians must be attentive to policy factors and work to ensure they benefit the health of both patients and the specialty. In this article, we review advocacy issues of current relevance to neonatal practice, including the "Born Alive Executive Order," the "Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act," subspecialty loan repayment and legislation related to donor human milk, as well as introduce topics further discussed as part of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Advocacy Series.

Gene-targeted therapies: Towards equitable development, diagnosis, and access.

Genomic and gene-targeted therapies hold great promise in addressing the global issue of rare diseases. To achieve this promise, however, it is critical the twin goals of equity in access to testing and diagnosis, and equity in access to therapy be considered early in the life cycle of development and implementation. Rare disease researchers and clinicians must simultaneously recognize the life-altering potential of early diagnosis and administration of gene-targeted therapeutics while acknowledging that not everyone who experiences a rare disease and needs these therapies will be able to afford or access them.