Specialized care of overweight children in community health centers.

We have developed a new approach to child obesity that supports the delivery of so-called secondary care-referral-based specialized visits-by primary care teams within community health centers. The Healthy Weight Clinic reorganizes care to provide access to a trained team consisting of a pediatric provider, nutritionist, and case manager during dedicated weight management visits. Our model improves obesity care by promoting local specialization and increasing capacity for specialized care; building multidisciplinary teams within primary care; focusing on health behavior change as a critical determinant of chronic disease outcomes; and using health information technology to promote high-quality care.

Diabetes mellitus screening in pediatric primary care.

OBJECTIVE: The goal was to determine the rates of diabetes screening and the prevalence of screening abnormalities in overweight and nonoverweight individuals in an urban primary care clinic. METHODS: This study was a retrospective chart review conducted in a hospital-based urban primary care setting. Deidentified data for patients who were 10 to 19 years of age and had > or = 1 BMI measurement between September 1, 2002, and September 1, 2004, were extracted from the hospital electronic health record. RESULTS: A total of 7710 patients met the study criteria. Patients were 73.0% black or Hispanic and 47.0% female; 42.0% of children exceeded normal weight, with 18.2% at risk for overweight and 23.8% overweight. On the basis of BMI, family history, and race, 8.7% of patients met American Diabetes Association criteria for type 2 diabetes mellitus screening, and 2452 screening tests were performed for 1642 patients. Female gender, older age group, and family history of diabetes were associated with screening. Increasing BMI percentile was associated with screening, exhibiting a dose-response relationship. Screening rates were significantly higher (45.4% vs 19.0%) for patients who met the American Diabetes Association criteria; however, less than one half of adolescents who should have been screened were screened. Abnormal glucose metabolism was seen for 9.2% of patients screened. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that, although pediatricians are screening for diabetes mellitus, screening is not being conducted according to the American Diabetes Association consensus statement. Point-of-care delivery of consensus recommendations could increase provider awareness of current recommendations, possibly improving rates of systematic screening and subsequent identification of children with laboratory evidence of abnormal glucose metabolism.

A content analysis of e-mail communication between primary care providers and parents.

BACKGROUND: E-mail exchange between parents of patients and providers has been cited by the Institute of Medicine as an important aspect of contemporary medicine; however, we are unaware of any data describing actual exchanges. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the content of e-mails between providers and parents of patients in pediatric primary care, as well as parent attitudes about e-mail. DESIGN/METHODS: Over a 6-week period, all e-mail exchanges between 2 primary care pediatricians and their patients' parents were evaluated and coded. An exchange was defined as the e-mails between parent and primary care provider about a single inquiry. Parents also completed a questionnaire regarding this service. RESULTS: Of 55 parents, 54 (98%) agreed to have their e-mails with their pediatrician reviewed. The 54 parents generated 81 e-mail exchanges; 86% required only 1 e-mail response from the pediatrician, and the other 14% required an average of 1.9 responses. E-mail inquiries were all for nonacute issues (as judged by S.G.A.) and included inquiries about a medical question (n = 43), medical update (n = 20), subspecialty evaluation (n = 9), and administrative issue (n = 9). The 81 exchanges resulted in 9 appointments, 21 phone calls, 4 subspecialty referrals, 34 prescriptions or recommendations for over-the-counter medications, 11 administrative tasks, and 1 radiograph. Of 91 pediatrician-generated e-mails, 39% were sent during the workday (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday), 44% were sent on weeknights, and 17% were sent on weekends. During the study period, the 2 physicians estimated an average of 30 minutes/day spent responding to e-mail. Of the 54 parents, 45 (83%) returned the survey; 93% were mothers and 86% had completed college. Ninety-eight percent were very satisfied with their e-mail experience with their pediatrician. Although 80% felt that all pediatricians should use e-mail to communicate with parents and 65% stated they would be more likely to choose a pediatrician based on access by e-mail, 63% were unwilling to pay for access. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to describe actual e-mail exchange between parents and their providers. Exchanges seem to be different from those generated by the telephone, with more e-mails related to medical versus administrative issues and more resulting in office visits. Approximately 1 in 4 exchanges result in multiple e-mails back and forth between parent and provider. Parents who have actually exchanged e-mails with their providers overwhelmingly endorse it, although they are reluctant to pay for it.