Chronic or persistent pain is a growing global health problem. Internationally, paediatric pain services are a limited resource and must therefore strive to improve equity, outcomes, and value for money. The Paediatric electronic Persistent Pain Outcomes Collaboration (PaedePPOC) is a binational paediatric outcome measurement centre that aims to measure, benchmark, and improve children’s specialist pain services in Australia and New Zealand. This study documents the establishment of PaedePPOC, outlines the methods and resources this required, and presents baseline and initial outcome data.
The PaedePPOC initiative has been successfully integrated into children’s pain services, and nine of the 10 specialist paediatric pain services in Australia and New Zealand are now participating. The collaboration allows collection of timely point-of-care information to support clinicians and families, and valuable binational and service data to inform quality improvement and future sector planning.