Academic pediatrics
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Academic pediatrics · Nov 2013
ReviewThe national improvement partnership network: state-based partnerships that improve primary care quality.
Improvement partnerships (IPs) are a model for collaboration among public and private organizations that share interests in improving child health and the quality of health care delivered to children. Their partners typically include state public health and Medicaid agencies, the local chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and an academic health care organization or children's hospital. Most IPs also engage other partners, including a variety of public, private, and professional organizations and individuals. ⋯ To date, IPs have focused on achieving improvements in care delivery through individual projects. Rigorous measurement and evaluation of their efforts and impact will be essential to understanding, spreading, and sustaining state/regional child health care QI programs. We describe the origins, evolution to date, and hopes for the future of these partnerships and the National Improvement Partnership Network (NIPN), which was established to support existing and nurture new IPs.
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Academic pediatrics · Nov 2013
Strict smoke-free home policies among smoking parents in pediatric settings.
To examine strict smoke-free home policies among smoking parents assessed in pediatric offices. ⋯ Nearly half of smoking parents did not have strict smoke-free home policies. Parents were less likely to report policies if they were heavier smokers, black, living with other smokers, or attending a sick child visit; if they did not have a young child or smoke-free car policy; if they had a child on Medicaid; and if anyone other than only the father smoked. Few pediatricians addressed or recommended strict smoke-free home policies in an office visit. The pediatric office encounter represents a currently missed opportunity to intervene regarding smoke-free homes, particularly for high-risk groups.
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Academic pediatrics · Nov 2013
Integrating mental health services in primary care continuity clinics: a national CORNET study.
To determine whether pediatric continuity clinics integrate mental health (MH) services into care delivery; and to determine whether the level of MH integration is related to access to MH services, types of MH screening performed, self-efficacy, satisfaction with referral sites, and communication with the primary care provider. ⋯ Directors from one-third of training programs surveyed reported some level of MH integration in their primary care teaching clinics. Future studies are needed to compare patient and resident education outcomes between integrated and nonintegrated sites.
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Academic pediatrics · Nov 2013
Teaching and assessment of ethics and professionalism: a survey of pediatric program directors.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residency programs to provide instruction in and evaluation of competency in ethics and professionalism. We examined current practices and policies in ethics and professionalism in pediatric training programs, utilization of newly available resources on these topics, and recent concerns about professional behavior raised by social media. ⋯ Pediatric training programs are slowly adopting the educational mandates for ethics and professionalism instruction. Resources now exist that can facilitate curriculum development in both traditional content areas such as informed consent and privacy as well as newer content areas such as social media use.