Culturally Effective Care Toolkit for Pediatric Practices Now Available from the AAP—Free and Online
The new AAP Culturally Effective Care Toolkit is a practical, hands-on resource to help practicing pediatricians and their office staff provide culturally effective care to their patients and families. Information, resources, and tools on the following topics are included in this free online toolkit available to the public:

• What is culturally effective care?
• Health beliefs and practices
• Nutrition, feeding, and body image perspectives
• Behavior and child development
• Interpretive services
• Literacy and health literacy
• Medical education
• Tips, tools, and resources for implementation in an office setting
• Continuing Medical Education opportunities

New Health Information Technology (HIT) Web site from the AAP
To help educate American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) members on rapidly evolving HIT matters, the AAP launched the Child Health Informatics Center (CHIC) Web site. The site is a one stop shop which centralizes all AAP HIT resources aimed to support pediatricians in the effective adoption and use of electronic health record (EHRs). Exciting Web site components include:

• A member resource library which provides information about meaningful use, AAP policy, advocacy efforts, and other essential educational materials.
• A state and territorial resource page which allows users to search for their state specific HIT activities and contacts.
• An archive of AAP responses to and comments on HIT policy and regulatory documents.
• Summaries on Academy project involvement and initiatives.
• An up-to-date list of upcoming HIT meetings and events.
• Contact information for AAP HIT staff. 

As the premier Web site for pediatric HIT information, this Web site demonstrates the Academy's commitment to ensuring that members are provided with the most current information and guidance during this time of rapid change. For questions about the new Web site or the CHIC, contact CHIC@aap.org.

Care Coordination Measures Atlas Published by AHRQ
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released the Care Coordination Measures Atlas which lists existing measures of care coordination, with a focus on ambulatory care, and presents a framework for understanding care coordination measurement. The Atlas is useful for evaluators of projects aimed at improving care coordination and for quality improvement practitioners and researchers studying care coordination.

Medical Home Implementation Guides from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative
The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, supported by the Commonwealth Fund and eight partners, aims to help 65 community health centers across the country become patient-centered medical homes. New implementation guides are available for the following key building blocks of a medical home: empanelment; team-based care; patient-centered interactions; engaged leadership; and enhanced access.

Medical Home Assessment Tools from the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC)
The PCDC, a New York-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that every community has timely and effective access to primary care, has developed a Patient Centered Medical Home Self-Assessment Tool for Primary Care Practices to help providers and staff navigate the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Patient-Centered Medical Home 2011 recognition process. Through this Excel file, providers and staff can assess how their practice operates compared to PCMH 2011 standards, including their use of electronic health records; patient and provider communication; data and patient outcomes reporting; workflow redesign; and care management and coordination. The tool was originally developed for PCDC's Obtaining Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition: A How-To Manual and has been updated to incorporate the NCQA PCMH 2011 standards.

Webinar Recording—Linking and Integrating with Primary Care: Medical Home Model for Children's Mental Health
Many children at risk for social, emotional, mental or behavioral issues are not consistently linked to the services and supports that they need. Primary care, as a partner with children's mental health, has an important role to play in assuring that children receive appropriate holistic and developmental care. This webinar, hosted by the National Technical Assistance Center in Children’s Mental Health and the AAP, provided an overview of opportunities provided by the medical home model for children's mental health and primary care to strengthen their collaboration by shifting the paradigm from a referral based system to a linked and integrated system. Participants were introduced to the concept of the medical home, and examples of successful primary care-mental health linkages were provided. Opportunities for enhanced collaboration within the Affordable Care Act (Health Care Reform) were also addressed.

Updated! KidsDoc Symptom Checker
The AAP HealthyChildren.org KidsDoc Symptom Checker has been updated for 2011 with all health topics reviewed and revised as necessary. This helpful interactive tool for parents is available on HealthyChildren.org and is also available as an iPhone app. Three new symptom care guides have been added:

• Anitbiotics: When Do They Help
• Coughs and Colds: Medicines or Home Remedies?
• Ear Infection Questions

In addition, 2 new pediatric information topics were added:

• Emergency Symptoms Not to Miss
• Vomiting With Diarrhea

Link to the KidsDoc Symptom Checker from your own Web site and/or use the banner ad posted on the HealthyChildren.org Spread the Word page!

Updated Oral Health Knowledge Path Published by MCH Library
Produced by the Maternal and Child Health Library (MCH Library) in collaboration with the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, the Oral Health Knowledge Path contains Web site links and key resources for families and for schools regarding specific aspects of oral health, such as child care, dental caries, fluoride varnish, special health care needs, and more.

Autism Information and Resources

• State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC)
  SPHARC is a comprehensive resource center for state Title V agencies and others interested in improving systems for children, youth and families with autism spectrum disorders. In addition, SPHARC offers technical assistance calls on subjects such as financing of care, care coordination, cultural competency, family-centered care, medical home, health information technology, and transition.
• ICI Brief: Youth with Autism and Vocational Rehabilitation
  As increasing numbers of youth with autism are accessing Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services, it is important to understand how they are using these services and the relationship of these services to outcomes and costs. This Research to Practice Brief from Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) explores the differences in VR services received by youth with autism compared to youth with other disabilities.
• Autism Speaks Launches Transition Tool Kit
  The free guide was developed in conjunction with both parents and professionals that features practical and actionable information, as well as links to resources to enable adolescents or young adults to participate to the greatest extent possible in their own transition plan. Tool Kits customized by location are also available for families of adolescents and young adults and can be ordered by registering online.

Healthy People 2020 Action Project: Request for Proposal
Deadline: April 1 by 7pm (Eastern)
The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to have state, territorial, and tribal governments propose and conduct innovative and participatory strategic and health improvement planning activities that emphasize multi-sector collaboration and utilize Healthy People 2020 concepts to improve the health of their communities. Funding is intended to support activities above and beyond general operations. Awardees will receive funding to operationalize Healthy People 2020 and address their specific population’s health contexts and needs.

Funding Opportunity: Strategies to Increase Health Care Providers Use of Population-Based Immunization Information Systems (RFA-IP-11-008)
Application Deadline: April 12 by 5pm (Eastern)
This project will generate information on strategies that promote use of Immunization information system (IIS) functions and features by clinical providers to increase immunization coverage among children and adolescents, decrease missed opportunities, and increase office efficiency.  In particular, these strategies will focus on improving the use of an IIS by providers to determine vaccinations due at the time of a clinic visit (ie, vaccine forecasting), generate reminder\recall notifications, conduct self assessment of vaccination coverage at the provider-level, generate reports to identify under-vaccinated children, use IIS Moved or Gone Elsewhere prompts, input address changes, and use vaccine ordering functions. Methods could include structured provider interviews or surveys to identify barriers to IIS usage and factors promoting IIS usage, followed by design, implementation and evaluation of strategies to promote use of IIS functions and features at the provider level. For additional information or to apply, click here.

AAP Community Pediatrics Monthly Funding Alert
The AAP Community Pediatrics Monthly Funding Alert provides information on funding opportunities from the AAP and other organizations, as well as links to key programs and agencies.

For a more detailed listing of funding opportunities, click here.

(Back to Top)

Genetic Diseases of Children—Advancing Care and Research Conference
March 8-9—Sheraton New York Hotel, Manhattan 
Over 120 experts will lead in-depth discussions and debates at this national conference to engage an audience of researchers, clinicians, families, health advocates, federal and state government and industry leaders in developing recommendation for improved health outcomes, topics include:

• Navigating the Healthcare System: Having a Family-Centered Medical Home
• Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Young Adults:  Young Adult Perspectives
• Looking Ahead: Health Care Transition for Young Adults with Rare Genetic Diseases
• What Will Newborn Screening Look Like in 2020? 
• Complexities Of Genome Analysis For Genetic Diagnosis
• Day To Day Challenges We Face
• Best Practices For Achieving Optimized Levels Of Care
• Enrolling In National History Studies And Clinical Trials

The Genetics Diseases of Children Conference is presented by the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health's Office of Rare Diseases Research, the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements, Genetic Alliance, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and the Jeffrey Modell Foundation. For additional information or to register, click here.

Be Our Voice Obesity Advocacy Training—Pre-Legislative Conference Workshop
March 12—12pm to 5:30pm—Washington, DC
Be Our Voice is a project of the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the California Medical Association Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to help reverse the trend of childhood obesity by training, supporting, and providing technical assistance to health professionals in becoming advocates for change in their communities. The Be Our Voice Obesity Advocacy Training Pre-Legislative Conference Workshop is intended for health professionals interested in working in the community for sustainable policy changes that promote healthy active living for all children and families. This interactive workshop will feature the following topics and exercises:

• Policy strategies for obesity prevention
• Connecting with your community
• Health professional's unique niche in obesity prevention advocacy
• Effectively using community and obesity data
• Success stories from health professionals

Third National Medical Home Summit
March 14-16—Philadelphia, PA
Sponsored by Jefferson School of Population Health, the Third National Medical Home Summit will bring together authorities and practitioners in the medical home field to discuss how medical home is working, where it has proven outcomes, how it is evolving, and how it fits into plans for reforming the delivery system, in particular through accountable care organizations (ACOs). The key building blocks of the medical home model will be presented and current issues—evaluations, recognition, IT, patient engagement, the workforce—will be discussed in nine separate mini summits. Attendees will see how the model is working in a variety of different settings serving Medicare, Medicaid, commercially insured, and uninsured patients.

AAP Future of Pediatrics Conference—Call for Abstracts
Deadline for Submission: March 15, 2011
The call for abstracts for the AAP 2011 Future of Pediatrics conference is now open. Consider submitting an abstract and also help us in promoting the call to colleagues and others, as appropriate. The range of topics for oral presentations is much broader this year and may be of interest to you / your colleagues even if it hasn't been in the past. You are invited to submit an abstract for a presentation or a poster, sharing your successes and challenges as you work to improve children's access to a medical home and other needed services. This year there are even more opportunities to present your work. Abstract and poster presenters will receive a discount on registration. Abstracts are being accepted for the following topics:

• Accountable Care Organizations
• Improving Child Health Through Community Partnerships
• Implementing Electronic Health Records
• Building a Quality Improvement Program
• Co-management by Primary Care and Specialty Care
• Medical Home Recognition/Certification
• Promoting Early Brain Development
• Family Partnerships
• Transitioning Youth with Special Needs into Adult Care

IHI’s 12th Annual International Summit on Improving Patient Care in the Office Practice and Community
March 20-22—Dallas, TX
Sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), this conference is a meeting place for health care providers to learn cutting-edge improvements for practice and outpatient settings. The summit will bring together revolutionary thinkers and innovative practitioners who are launching a new era in the scope and ambition of local care delivery. This event proposes to fill clinicians and others on their team with the energy, optimism, ideas, and practice solutions necessary to successfully manage quality improvement agenda.

It's Time for Me to Do What? Conference on Effective Health Care Transitions
March 25—Newark, DE
This conference, sponsored by Nemours and the Christiana Care Health System, will enable attendees to develop and share effective strategies to ensure the successful transition of young adults with special health care needs (YASHCN) to adult health care. The conference is designed for clinicians, parents/guardians and children or young adults with special health care needs. For additional information or to register, click here.

Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting (ASPR)
April 30-May 3—Denver, CO
This year’s PAS meeting will celebrate the second joint collaboration with the ASPR. The combined memberships of these societies represent all interests in pediatrics including specialists, generalists and community practitioners. Sponsoring organizations share a common mission of fostering the health and well being of children worldwide.

Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) 2011
July 27-31—Kansas City, MO
PHM 2011 is the premier educational conference for pediatric hospitalists and other clinicians involved in the care of pediatric inpatients. The conference is co-sponsored by the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA). This year’s conference will feature the theme Keeping the Focus—Sheltering the Child in the Healthcare Reform Storm.

AAP Future of Pediatrics Conference
July 29-31—Chicago, IL
With the overall goal of improving child and adolescent health, the AAP Future of Pediatrics conference blends cutting-edge updates on clinical and practice management topics, with strategies for advancing medical homes and building partnerships within communities. Learners will apply principles of team-based care, change management, and co-management between pediatric specialists and primary care, to achieve a goal of improving the health of all children. A variety of educational formats will be utilized, including interactive, roundtable, and networking sessions, to provide learners with opportunities to develop innovative, enduring partnerships and transform their practices.

5th Conference on Emerging Adulthood—Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood
October 27-28—Providence, RI
Conference highlights include a full-day preconference workshop on mental health in emerging adulthood (ages 18-29), a talk entitled, Life Authorship: The Psychological Challenge of Emerging Adulthood by keynote speaker, Professor Dan McAdams of Northwestern University, two debates, and a symposium on emerging adults living with chronic health conditions. For more information about this conference, click here.

For a full listing of Upcoming Conferences and Webinars, click here

(Back to Top)

AAP Partners on CHIPRA Medical Home Grant
The AAP will participate in a Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) grant through a partnership via the CHIPRA Florida Quality Demonstration Grant. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded federal CHIPRA funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The AAP, via its Quality Improvement Innovation Network (QuIIN) and Chapter Quality Network (CQN) programs, respectively, will partner with the state of Florida to implement this grant by conducting a quality improvement project for eligible practices interested in becoming a medical home or enhancing their existing medical home. To accomplish this, practices will attend a modified learning collaborative to: learn about the medical home concept; be provided the tools and resources for being a medical home; implement these tools in practice and measure the results using quality improvement science, and participate in surveys to capture these improvements. The second phase of this grant project will focus on spreading innovative quality improvement activities via the Academy's Chapter Quality Network in concert with the Florida AAP chapter. Additional partners for this improvement project include the Florida Children’s Medical Services Network, AAP Florida Chapter, and Institute for Child Health Policy University of Florida.

NASHP Announces New Medical Home Consortium States
Fifteen states will join NASHP's 3rd State Consortium to Advance Medical Homes in Medicaid and CHIP, supported by The Commonwealth Fund.  Alabama, Colorado,  Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington will continue the progress made in the first two Medical Home consortia by engaging each other in learning communities designed to strengthen, sustain and expand current initiatives. These states will have their first opportunity to connect with national experts and NASHP at a kick-off meeting in March. For additional information, e-mail NASHP at info@nashp.org.

NEGC Medical Home and Transition Work Groups Collaborate on the Development of a Care Planning Tool
At its inaugural meeting, the Medical Home work group of the New England Genetics Collaborative (NEGC) decided to develop and pilot a dynamic care plan instrument to be used as a communication tool among specialists, families, and the primary care medical home. In June 2009 the work group finalized plans to pilot a care plan communication tool that Chris Stille, MD, MPH, FAAP had developed. The project consisted of a) further developing and refining the communication tool to be used with parents/primary doctors/specialists, and b) testing it for feasibility in diverse pediatric practices, both as formal research and as a quality improvement activity. The goal was to create a practical care plan, a protocol for training physicians on its use, and a protocol for a brief coaching session for parents. To read more about this project, visit the NCC Collaborator December 2010 issue.

Study Looks at Coping Among Parents of Children With and Without a Health Care Home
Published in the February issue of the Journal of Pediatric Health Care, this article describes a study that looked at how some provider-level factors are linked to parental coping of raising a child with special health care needs (CSHCN). Data were from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), with a sample of more than 18,000 CSHCN. Overall, the authors found that compared with children whose parents reported not coping well, a significantly higher proportion of children who had a health care home who did not receive help coordinating care and who did not need extra help coordinating care had parents who reported coping very well.

AHRQ to Survey Medicaid Providers about Meaningful Use
Deadline: March 21
A recent article in Healthcare IT News details how the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) plans to survey Medicaid providers to learn more about the barriers they face qualifying for Meaningful Use incentives. The project has three goals: to develop technical assistance and support implementation and use of EHRs for Medicaid providers; improve care for the Medicaid population; and help with determining criteria for Stages 2 and 3 of Meaningful Use.

Spotlight on State Resources—Transition to Employment and Adult Services for Youth with Developmental Disabilities in Illinois
Family Voices of Illinois, partnering with Title V CSHCN agency parents, the Illinois Chapter of the AAP, and other state agency and advocacy agencies, created this comprehensive manual for youth transition with sections on Special Education and Transition Planning; The World of Adult Services/Supports; Health Insurance and Employment; and Services and Supports, Options and Trends.

For additional information on National Initiatives, click here

(Back to Top)

CDC Releases First Periodic Health Disparities & Inequalities Report—United States, 2011
This report is the first in a series of periodic, consolidated assessments that highlight health disparities by sex, race, and ethnicity, income, education, disability status and other social characteristics in the US. The report addresses disparities in health-care access, exposure to environmental hazards, mortality, morbidity, behavioral risk factors, disability status, and social determinants of selected health problems.

Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care has a New Address
Formerly the Institute for Family-Centered Care, the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care has a new address to go along with its new name: 6917 Arlington Road, Suite 309, Bethesda, MD 20814. You can access their resources and tools for change on their Web site.

Call for Stories of Diagnosis from Genetic Alliance
The Genetic Alliance, through the Congenital Conditions Program, is inviting people to share their stories that detail individuals’ experiences with receiving the diagnosis of a congenital condition for a child in the prenatal period through the child’s first year of life. Parents, siblings, grandparents, other relatives, and caregivers are all invited to participate. To find out how to contribute your story, e-mail Alyson Krokosky at akrokosky@geneticalliance.org.

Epilepsy & My Child Toolkit
The National Center for Project Access and the Epilepsy Foundation has released the Epilepsy & My Child Toolkit for parents of newly diagnosed children with epilepsy.

(Back to Top)

Survey from the NCMHI—Help Us Help You!
The NCMHI launched its new and improved Web site in spring 2010 and is looking to collect feedback and suggestions from users on its Web site. The NCMHI hopes that through continued feedback and enhancements to the tools, resources, and content featured on the site, the NCMHI can help you to further the implementation of a medical home for all children and youth. To access a short survey on the NCMHI Web site, click here.

(Back to Top)