The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) New National Center for Medical Home Implementation

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a 5-year cooperative agreement grant from the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau as part of the Health Resources and Services Administration's New Freedom Initiative, a comprehensive plan to achieve appropriate community based service systems for children and youth with special health care needs and their families. 

Housed in the AAP Division of Children with Special Needs, the new National Center for Medical Home Implementation will support and promote medical home implementation in order to ensure that all children and youth, including those with special health care needs, have the services and support necessary for full community inclusion.  The Center aims to accomplish this by supporting effective implementation of medical home among pediatric health care providers, public health professionals, families, and all others who care for children.  Resources, information, and tools are accessible at the Center's website:  www.medicalhomeinfo.org, the premier source for improving the lives of all children and youth and their families through a medical home.  For questions or more information, please e-mail medical_home@aap.org or call 800-433-9016 ext. 7621.

New Article in Pediatrics, Care Coordination for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs: A Descriptive, Multisite Study of Activities, Personnel Costs, and Outcomes

Published online July 1, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 122 No. 1 July 2008, pp. e209-e216 (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-2254)

Care Coordination for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs: A Descriptive, Multisite Study of Activities, Personnel Costs, and Outcomes

a Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Division of Academic General Pediatrics, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford, Connecticut
b Department of Pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts
c Division of Planning and Performance Measurement, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, Massachusetts

OBJECTIVES. Objectives included testing use of the care-coordination measurement tool in pediatric primary care practices; describing care-coordination activities for children and youth that occur in primary care practices; assessing the relationship of care-coordination activities in the medical home with outcomes related to resource use; and measuring the direct personnel costs of care-coordination activities.

METHODS. Six general pediatric practices were selected, representing a diverse range of sizes, locations, patient demographics, and care-coordination activity model types. The care-coordination measurement tool was used over a period of 8 months in 2003 to record all of the nonreimbursable care-coordination activity encounters performed by any office-based personnel. The tool enabled recording of activities, resources-use outcomes, and time. Cost of personnel performing care-coordination activities was derived by extrapolation from the time spent.

RESULTS. Care-coordination activity services were used by patients of all complexity levels. Children and youth with special health care needs with acute-onset, family-based psychosocial problems experienced 14% of the care-coordination activity encounters and used 21% of the care-coordination activities minutes. Children and youth without special health care needs, without complicating family psychosocial problems, received 50% of the encounters and used 36% of the care-coordination activity minutes. The average cost per care-coordination activity encounter varied from $4.39 to $12.86, with an overall mean of $7.78. A principal cost driver seemed to be the percentage of care-coordination activities performed by physicians. Office-based nurses prevented a large majority of emergency department visits and episodic office visits.

CONCLUSIONS. Care-coordination activity was assessed at the practice level, and the care-coordination measurement tool was used successfully during the operations of typical, pediatric, primary care settings. The presence of acute, family-based social stressors was a significant driver of need for care-coordination activities. A high proportion of dependence on care-coordination performed by physicians led to increased costs. Office-based nurses providing care coordination were responsible for a significant number of episodes of avoidance of higher cost use outcomes.

Key Words: care coordination • children and youth with special health care needs • cost of care coordination • outcomes of care coordination • medical home

Abbreviations: CYSHCN—children and youth with special health care needs • CC—care-coordination activity • CCMT—care-coordination measurement tool • RN—registered nurse • BLS—Bureau of Labor Statistics

To read the full article, click here.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Report Studies Safety Net Health Centers

New HRSA Report Illustrates Success of Health Centers

A new report released today by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) describes how HRSA-funded health centers improve the lives of the more than 16 million people they treat each year.

Using personal stories, examples and background statistics, Health Centers: America's Primary Care Safety Net Reflections on Success, 2002-2007, details the broad reach of HRSA-funded health centers across the country – and offers a glimpse into the work of agency grantees to overcome language and cultural barriers that often have thwarted efforts to serve poor and minority patients living on the margins of mainstream society.

Health centers provide the only available preventive care and treatment for many disadvantaged people across the country, who otherwise would seek care in overcrowded emergency rooms or go untreated.

An ambitious expansion initiative launched by President Bush in 2001 dramatically increased the health center network, reinforcing its importance as a model for delivering comprehensive primary health care to some of the most vulnerable and geographically isolated people in the United States.

“The President's expansion is the largest we've undertaken in the 40-year history of the health center program,” said HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Duke. “All the more remarkable is how far we've extended our reach in such a short period of time. Many patients – and remember that more than a third of them are children – are now regularly seeing a doctor, a dentist, or a mental health counselor for perhaps the first time in their lives.”

HRSA supports more than 1,000 health centers, which themselves operate six times as many service delivery sites. They are in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Pacific Basin. Health center funds also support programs that serve migrant health, health care for the homeless, and primary health care for residents of public housing.

The range of services offered at health centers has increased along with the number of patients served.  In 2007, almost 2.8 million patients received dental services, nearly double the 1.4 million dental patients served in 2001. Gains were also striking among patients who received mental health services.  In 2007, 613,000 patients came to health centers for mental health care and/or substance abuse services, triple the number who received such care in 2001.

In the past six years, HRSA -supported health center grantees have added 3,200 physicians – and more than 2,000 nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse-midwives – for a total full-time staff of nearly 13,000 frontline primary health professionals. The centers have generated an estimated $12.6 billion in local economic activity and, when both direct and indirect effects are considered, 143,000 jobs.

To help consumers find the health center closest to them, HRSA today also unveiled a new “Find a Health Center ” tool, http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/.

New Commonwealth Fund (CMWF) Brief About the Use of Colocation and Its Benefits

Colocating Health Services: A Way to Improve Coordination of Children's
Heath Care? explores what is currently known about specific colocation
strategies (strategies that place multiple services in the same physical
space) used in pediatric primary care settings, as well as strategies
with potential application to those settings. The issue brief, published
by the Commonwealth Fund, is based on a systematic search of the
literature and interviews with key stakeholders. Topics include the
types of services that have colocated with pediatric practices, the
objectives of efforts to colocate with pediatric practices and
approaches used to achieve them, the benefits of colocation, and the
barriers and implementation issues associated with different colocation
strategies. Conclusions and implications are provided. The brief is
available here.

A New Report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), Reimbursement of Mental Health Services in Primary Care Settings

A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) released by three agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposes strategies to overcome barriers associated with the reimbursement of mental health services provided in primary care settings. It includes recommendations for both State and Federal policy makers and programs. 

The full report is available on the Web at http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/SMA08-4324/SMA08-4324.pdf.

The 13th Annual National Hispanic Medical Association Conference Call for Abstracts

Deadline: September 12, 2008

The mission of the organization is to improve the health of Hispanics and other underserved populations. As a rapidly growing national resource based in the nation's capital, NHMA provides policymakers and health care providers with expert information and support in strengthening health service delivery to Hispanic communities across the nation.Presentations must be focused on improving the health of Hispanics in the areas of: Research / Medical education / Policy / Clinical care (preventive, medical, dental, nursing, mental health). The conference is scheduled for March 19-22, 2009 in Brooklyn, NY. To view the call for abstracts click here.

Call for Papers for The 4th International Conference on Patient- and Family-Centered Care

Deadline: September 28, 2008.

The 4th International Conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 27-30, 2009.
The 4th International Conference will showcase innovative health care programs that are committed to patient- and family-centered care and meaningful collaboration with patients and families. Priority consideration will be given to presentation teams that include health care professionals and patient/family leaders.

The Institute strongly encourages creative and innovative ways of presenting material. Abstracts will be accepted for presentations, videos, and posters. One of the highlights of The 3rd International Conference held in Seattle, WA was the well-attended video theatre. We hope you will consider submitting your organization’s patient- and family-centered informational and educational videos, as well as any orientation and training material that highlight patient- and family-centered best practices.
Submission Guidelines: Abstracts must be submitted online by September 28, 2008. Read Submission Guidelines

Authors will be notified in January 2009 regarding abstract status.

Read More About the Call for Papers
Start the Abstract Submission Process
Read About Our Conferences
Read About Conference Exhibitor and Sponsorship Opportunities

Community Health Institute (CHI) & Expo, National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), September 12-16, 2008, New Orleans, LA

2008 Global Summit on Education: Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities, September 19-20, 2008, Washington, DC

The U.S. Department of Education hosts this event. The purpose of the 2008 Global Summit is to bring together educational leaders, disability advocates, educators, academics, and government officials to:
-connect with colleagues to promote an international dialogue,
-gather valuable tools and resources to continue building academic opportunities for -students with disabilities
-share successes and challenges from a global perspective

For more information, please visit: 2008 Global Summit on Education: Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities

National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) 21st Annual State Health Policy Conference- Charting a Course for State Health Policy, October 5-7, 2008, Tampa, FL

NASHP's Annual State Health Policy Conference is planned by state health policymakers, for state health policymakers. It is a dynamic gathering of state leaders, with a vibrant mix of attendees from state executive branch agencies, legislators, and legislative staff. Open dialogue and idea exchange are hallmarks of the conference. Learn more at National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) 21st Annual State Health Policy Conference- Charting a Course for State Health Policy.

AAP National Conference & Exhibition (NCE), October 11-14, Boston, MA, Hynes Convention Center

Online Registration is now open. You can also download and fax in the NCE Registration Form!
Online Housing is now open. The AAP is committed to giving you MORE at the 2008 National Conference & Exhibition (NCE)!

The NCE is MORE than continuing medical education, technical exhibits, meetings, awards ceremonies, receptions, networking or socializing with your peers. It's the experieNCE you bring back to your practice, that you can conquer the world. Learn more at http://www.aapexperience.org/

Public Health without Borders, American Public Health Association (APHA) 136th Annual Meeting and Expo, October 25-29, 2008, San Diego, CA

The APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition is the oldest and largest gathering of public health professionals in the world, attracting more than 13,000 national and international physicians, administrators, nurses, educators, researchers, epidemiologists, and related health specialists. APHA's meeting program addresses current and emerging health science, policy, and practice issues in an effort to prevent disease and promote health. For more information, please visit Public Health without Borders APHA 136th Annual Meeting and Expo

9th Annual Chronic Illness and Disability: Transition from Pediatric to Adult-Based Care Conference, November 13-14, 2008, Houston, TX

Save-the-Date for the First World Congress of Spina Bifida Research and Care, March 15-18, 2009, Orlando, FL

The Spina Bifida Association (SBA) is pleased to announce the First World Congress of Spina Bifida Research and Care. This meeting promises to be the premier forum for a unique gathering of International Spina Bifida researchers and care specialists.

International leaders in the medical and scientific community from the fields of neurosurgery, neurology, urology, orthopaedics, epidemiology, neuropsychology, and other specialties will come together to discuss the future of care for this challenging and complex birth defect. Don't miss your chance to be a part of this amazing event... the future is now.

Name of Event:   First World Congress on Spina Bifida Research and Care.

Location:   Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. Orlando, Florida.

Date:   March 15-18, 2009

Abstracts are currently being accepted

Contact:  Robin Austin

Phone:    202-944-3285  ext 29

Web link:  http://medicalconference.spinabifidaassociation.org.  

View Save-the-Date.