AAP Clinical Report—Providing a Primary Care Medical Home for Children and Youth with Spina Bifida
This clinical report highlights how the pediatric primary care provider in the medical home has a central and unique role in the care of children with spina bifida. The medical home provider is essential in supporting the family and advocating for the child from the time of entry into the practice through adolescence, which includes transition and transfer to adult health care. This report reviews aspects of care specific to the infant with spina bifida (particularly myelomeningocele) that will facilitate optimal medical, functional, and developmental outcomes.
Study Highlights the Value of Medical Home for Children without Special Health Care Needs
The study, The Value of the Medical Home for Children without Special Health Care Needs, published in Pediatrics found that the medical home setting provides benefits to children without special health care needs. Benefits of care through a medical home setting include improved health care use, decreased emergency department visits, and increased health-promoting behaviors such as family reading, sleep hygiene, and helmet use.
New Report on the Role of Adolescents in Medical Home
Published by the National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, the Medical Home Innovations: Where Do Adolescents Fit? 
report provides a summary of the activities underway in 12 innovative medical home programs and discusses how the health needs of adolescents are being addressed in these programs.
New Family Guide on Integrated Care
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has developed a new family guide on Integrating Mental Health and Pediatric Primary Care. The guide provides families with practical informat ion on how to become more involved in the movement aimed at practices incorporating mental health care into primary care settings and primary care into mental health care settings to improving the quality of care that patients receive.
New Web Site on Medicaid and the CHIP
The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) has announced the launch of www.medicaid.gov. The Web site is the first federal government Web site devoted to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), including federal policy guidance, lists of pending and approved waivers, highlights of the Affordable Care Act implementation efforts, and state-specific program information and data.
AAP Offers Parents Sound Advice on Mental Health
Children’s mental health is an important part of their overall well-being and the medical home plays a key role in ensuring optimal mental health. The AAP has made available a collection of audio interviews, called Sound Advice on Mental Health, featuring pediatricians who discuss child behavior, emotions, and other mental health topics.
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.
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AAP Webinar—Flex Your RVU with Payers: Relationship, Value, and Uniqueness
January 18, 2012—12 to 1pm (Central)
This webinar will educate pediatricians and practice staff on the importance of creating value and exerting the leverage required to effectively negotiate with payers. In today's health care market, the pediatrician and staff need to know how to assess the practice and the payer, identify advantage points, and apply leverage for gains. On completion of the webinar, participants will be able to determine what value and leverage mean in practice, list steps to effectively prepare and plan for negotiation with a payer, assess a practice’s and payer’s needs, demonstrate the value of a practice to its payers, and identify ways to create leverage to use in contract negotiations with payers. For additional information or to register, click here.
Findings from the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs
January 19, 2012—2:30 to 3:30pm (Eastern)
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) will host this webinar which coincides with the data release of the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). The webinar includes four speakers who will discuss the purpose, methodology, key findings, and ways to access both state and national data of the 2009-2010 NS-CSHCN. For full program information and to register, click here.
Webinar—Differences in Health Status for People with Disabilities
January 24, 2012—4pm (Eastern)
This webinar, hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and co-sponsored by the American Association on Health and Disability and the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, will describe some of the health indicators reflecting the challenges that people with disabilities face in achieving and maintaining good health; present overviews of selected programs that offer promising approaches to improving them in achieving and maintaining healthy weight for people with disabilities; and outline a strategy for expanding these efforts. To register, click here.
Got Transition Radio—What Age Should Transition Begin? Is There Such a Thing as “Too Early?”
January 25, 2012-3 to 3:30pm (Eastern)
This episode of Got Transition Radio, hosted in a webinar format, features hosts Mallory Cyr and Eileen Forlenza speaking with Dr Kirsten Hawkins, a pediatrician from Georgetown Adolescent Clinic. Dr Hawkins will discuss her beliefs on the best time to start the transition from pediatric to adult care. The webinar will also feature examples of how to begin the difficult conversations related to healthcare transitions. For additional information or to register, click here.
Webinar—Storytelling as Best Practice
February 1, 2012—1 to 2:30pm (Central)
The National Healthy Tomorrows Technical Assistance Resource Center is hosting a free webinar featuring nationally-recognized speaker, Andy Goodman. He will explain why he believes storytelling is the single most powerful communication tool you possess and will offer specific ways that you and/or your practice or organization can use stories to advance your mission, goals and objectives.
American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting—Call for Abstracts
Abstract Deadline Range: February 6-10, 2012
Conference Dates: October 27-31, 2012—San Francisco, CA
The APHA has launched a call for abstracts for individual paper presentations and poster sessions for the 2012 Annual Meeting. The theme of this meeting is Prevention and Wellness across the Life Span. All abstracts must be submitted online and the online submission form is now open. Abstracts should be no more than 250 words.
13th Annual International Summit on Improving Patient Care in the Office Practice & the Community
March 18-20, 2012—Washington, DC
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) will be hosting this summit the theme of "rediscovering conversations." Key topic areas addressed through the summit include: patient- and family-centered care, health information technology, coordinating care across the care continuum, new models of primary care, and accountable care organizations (ACOs). To view full session descriptions and the complete conference agenda, click here.
11th Annual Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI) Conference
March 5-6, 2012—St Louis, MO
The 2012 Annual National EHDI Conference will provide an opportunity to identify areas of concern, promote collaboration, and share best practices to improve early hearing screening, diagnosis, and intervention systems for infants/young children and their families.
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Annual Conference
March 28-30, 2012—San Antonio, TX
The NAPNAP 33rd Annual Conference on Pediatric Health Care will carry the theme New Frontiers in Child Health. The conference will highlight topics such as immunization updates from the CDC and a childhood obesity pre-conference. Two concurrent sessions of interest include: Innovations in Implementing a Pediatric Health Care Home and Advance Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs.
National Quality Forum Annual Conference—Building a Patient- and Family-Centered Health System
April 4-5, 2012—Washington, DC
The National Quality Forum (NQF) annual conference seeks to highlight new knowledge and innovations, foster discussion to understand different perspectives and harmonize these into common purpose, and facilitate the creation of an agenda that can help to move the healthcare improvement field forward. The conference will address the impact of policy, health information technology, and emerging measurement strategies on how patients can be further engaged to ensure they are at the center of healthcare.
2012 National Health Promotion Summit
April 10-11, 2012—Washington, DC
The 2012 National Health Promotion Summit, hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), aims to promote the development of disease prevention and health promotion polices that align with national prevention initiatives, encourage stakeholders at every level to collaborate on reaching national health goals, and integrate health policies across all sectors.
35th National Rural Health Association Annual Rural Health Conference
April 17, 2011—Denver, CO
The Annual Rural Health Conference is the nation's largest rural health conference, created for all of those with an interest in rural health care, including rural health practitioners, hospital administrators, clinic directors and lay health workers, social workers, state and federal health employees, academics, community members and more.
For a full listing of Upcoming Conferences and Events, click here
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National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) Request for Applications (RFA)
- Technical Assistance from State-level, Multi-sector Coalitions
Deadline: January 27, 2012
This RFA is for interested state coalitions to join the State Practice Transformation Learning Community: Adapting the North Carolina Experience. As part of the North Carolina Infrastructure for Maintaining Primary Care Transformation (IMPaCT) project, and with support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, three state coalitions will receive technical assistance to adapt North Carolina's model of primary care transformation.
- Medicaid-Safety Net Learning Collaborative
Deadline: February 16, 2012
This RFA is for interested state teams to join the Medicaid-Safety Net Learning Collaborative. With support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Medicaid-Safety Net Learning Collaborative will provide assistance to seven states through access to expert consultation, implementation resources, and a forum for state-to-state exchange. A webinar for prospective applicants will be held on January 17, 2012, at 3pm (Eastern).
New Research on Improving Patient-Centered Medical Home Evidence and Evaluations
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently published the Improving Evaluations of the Medical Home brief and the Building the Evidence Base for the Medical Home: What Sample and Sample Size Do Studies Need? white paper that were prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. These publications suggest how to improve the quality of current patient-centered medical home evidence and evaluations.
Building Medical Homes: Lessons from Eight States with Emerging Programs
The Commonwealth Fund published this report in December 2011 which discusses the progress and experiences of eight states (Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia) that are at various stages of implementing a medical home program.
Report Finds Children with Special Health Care Needs More Likely to Have Health Care Access Problems
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) published the Children with Special Health Care Needs in Context: A Portrait of the Nation in 2007,which examines children with special health care needs in the context of where they live, play, and go to school and provides information on a state-by-state basis. The data utilized in the report was derived from The National Survey of Children’s Health. To read the full press release from HRSA, click here.
For additional information on National Initiatives, click here
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New AAP Web Site—Designed with You in Mind
The AAP has redesigned their AAP.org site, which was co-designed and co-created with much input from AAP members through surveys, demonstrations, and user testing. The new site was built on a state-of-the-art platform that will allow the site to grow and evolve into the future. Future releases are already being planned for 2012 to continuously improve the site and meet member needs.
News and Updates from AAP Bright Futures
- Bright Futures Nutrition 3rd Edition Earns 5-Star Rating by Doody’s Review
Doody’s Review is the most trusted source of timely, expert review of newly published books and software in the health sciences. A 5-Star rating is the highest rating possible under Doody’s Review system. The newly revised and updated 3rd edition of Bright Futures Nutrition helps providers help patients and families build the foundation for lifelong health with sound eating practices. The Pocket Guide provides ready access to key points from the comprehensive Bright Futures Nutrition. For more information, to view a preview online, or to order visit the AAP Bookstore.
- New for 2012: Coding for Pediatric Preventive Care – Now Available
This newly updated coding resource contains comprehensive listings for all 2012 CPT and ICD-9-CM codes commonly reported for providing preventive care services. Download this new tool organized for easy access and accurate information.
- Fall 2011 Issue of Bright Ideas Available Online
The fall 2011 issue of Bright Ideas, the Bright Futures newsletter, is available at brightfutures.aap.org/newsletters.html. Feature articles include Georgia Practices Integrate Bright Futures Recommendations into Electronic Health Records; Bright Futures Young Investigator Awards Advance Research and Careers; and Bright Futures Quality Improvement Initiatives. This issue includes information on the latest Bright Futures resources, as well as other tools and resources available from AAP and Bright Futures’ partner organizations.
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Spotlight on Child Health Issues: Oral Health and Medical Home
Spotlight on Child Health Issues is a new quarterly e-publication for providers, families, policymakers and other stakeholders from the National Center for Medical Home Implementation. It provides timely medical home information and resources on various child health topics to supplement the monthly Medical Homes @ Work e-Newsletter. The second issue—Oral Health and Medical Home—published in December 2011 highlighted how good oral health is key to optimal general health and the role that the medical home plays in ensuring optimal oral health for all children and youth. The issue also included promising practices in states, resources for children/youth/families, and resources for providers.
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