Development of a Symptom-Focused Model to Guide the Prescribing of Antipsychotics in Children and Adolescents: Results of the First Phase of the Safer Use of Antipsychotics in Youth (SUAY) Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new approach to prescribing guidelines as part of a pragmatic trial, Safer Use of Antipsychotics in Youth (SUAY; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03448575), which supports prescribers in delivering high-quality mental health care to youths. METHOD: A nominal group technique was used to identify first- to nth-line treatments for target symptoms and potential diagnoses. The panel included US pediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and psychopharmacology experts. Meeting materials included information about Medicaid review programs, systematic reviews, prescribing guidelines, and a description of the pragmatic trial. Afterward, a series of 4 webinar discussions were held to achieve consensus on recommendations. RESULTS: The panel unanimously agreed that the guideline should focus on target symptoms rather than diagnoses. Guidance included recommendations for first- to nth-line treatment of target mental health symptoms, environmental factors to be addressed, possible underlying diagnoses that should first be considered and ruled out, and general considerations for pharmacological and therapeutic treatments. CONCLUSION: Prescribing guidelines are often ignored because they do not incorporate the real-world availability of first-line psychosocial treatments, comorbid conditions, and clinical complexity. Our approach addresses some of these concerns. If the approach proves successful in our ongoing pragmatic trial, Safer Use of Antipsychotics in Youth (SUAY), it may serve as a model to state Medicaid programs and health systems to support clinicians in delivering high-quality mental health care to youths. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Safer Use of Antipsychotics in Youth; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT03448575.

Awareness and Use of the Sickle Cell Disease Toolbox by Primary Care Providers in North Carolina.

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a complex chronic blood disorder characterized by severe disease complications ideally managed by both hematologists and primary care providers (PCP's). PCP's report knowledge gaps and discomfort with SCD management. Our team developed and a decision support tool for SCD management (SCD Toolbox) based on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's SCD guidelines. We surveyed PCPs in North Carolina (NC) prior to formal dissemination to determine current co-management practices, assess toolbox acceptability, use, format preferences, and understand which algorithms would be most helpful. METHOD: A 23-item baseline needs assessment survey was disseminated to PCPs throughout NC. RESULTS: A total of 63 medical providers responded to the survey and of these respondents, 64% reported caring for 1 to 10 patients with SCD. Only 39% of PCPs reported regular communication with an SCD specialist. Providers reported the highest level of awareness of the pediatric and adult health maintenance tools (41% and 39% respectively) and highest use of the pediatric (26%) and adult (28%) health maintenance tools. Respondents also expressed a desire to have access to multiple toolbox formats (37%) (website, mobile app and/or paper). LIMITATIONS: The use of a convenience sample and low survey response are study limitations which hinder generalizability. CONCLUSIONS: PCPs rarely co-managed with a specialist, had low awareness and use of SCD toolbox, and requested multiple formats for the toolbox.

Dissemination of Evidence-Based Recommendations for Sickle Cell Disease to Primary Care and Emergency Department Providers in North Carolina: A Cost Benefit Analysis.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic condition affecting primarily individuals of African descent, who happen to be disproportionately impacted by poverty and who lack access to health care. Individuals with SCD are at high likelihood of high acute care utilization and chronic pain episodes. The multiple complications seen in SCD contribute to significant morbidity and premature mortality, as well as substantial costs to the healthcare system. Objectives: SCD is a complex chronic disease resulting in the need for primary, specialty and emergency care. Many providers do not feel prepared to care for individuals with SCD, despite the existence of evidence-based guidelines. We report the development of a SCD toolbox and the dissemination process to primary care and emergency department (ED) providers in North Carolina (NC). We report the effect of this dissemination on health-care utilization, cost of care, and overall cost-benefit. Methods: The SCD toolbox was adapted from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommendations. Toolbox training was provided to quality improvement specialists who then disseminated the toolbox to primary care providers (PCPs) affiliated with the only NC managed care coordination system and ED providers. Tools were made available in paper, online, and in app formats to participating managed care network practices (n=1 800). Medicaid claims data were analyzed for total costs and benefits of the toolbox dissemination for a 24-month pre- and 18-month post-intervention period. Results: There was no statistically significant shift in the number of outpatient specialty visits, ED visits or hospitalizations. There was a small decrease in the number of PCP visits in the post-implementation period. The dissemination resulted in a net cost-savings of $361 414 ($14.03 per-enrollee per-month on average). However, the estimated financial benefit associated with the dissemination of the SCD toolbox was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Although we did not find the expected shift to increased PCP visits and decreased ED visits and hospitalizations, there were many lessons learned.

Increasing Early Childhood Screening in Primary Care Through a Quality Improvement Collaborative.

OBJECTIVES: Multiple early childhood screenings are recommended, but gaps persist in implementation. Our aim for this project was to improve screening, discussion, referral, and follow-up of development, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), maternal depression, and social determinants of health (SDoH) to 90% by July 2018. METHODS: This 1-year national quality improvement collaborative involved 19 pediatric primary care practices. Supported by virtual and in-person learning opportunities, practice teams implemented changes to early childhood screening. Monthly chart reviews were used to assess screening, discussion, referral, and follow-up for development, ASD, maternal depression, and SDoH. Parent surveys were used to assess parent-reported screening and referral and/or resource provision. Practice self-ratings and team surveys were used to assess practice-level changes. RESULTS: Participating practices included independent, academic, hospital-affiliated, and multispecialty group practices and community health centers in 12 states. The collaborative met development and ASD screening goals of >90%. Largest increases in screening occurred for maternal depression (27% to 87%; +222%; P < .001) and SDoH (26% to 76%; +231%; P < .001). Statistically significant increases in discussion of results occurred for all screening areas. For referral, significant increases were seen for development (53% to 86%; P < .001) and maternal depression (23% to 100%; P = .008). Parents also reported increased screening and referral and/or resource provision. Practice-level changes included improved systems to support screening. CONCLUSIONS: Practices successfully implemented multiple screenings and demonstrated improvement in subsequent discussion, referral, and follow-up steps. Continued advocacy for adequate resources to support referral and follow-up is needed to translate increased screening into improved health outcomes.

Mental Health Competencies for Pediatric Practice.

Pediatricians have unique opportunities and an increasing sense of responsibility to promote healthy social-emotional development of children and to prevent and address their mental health and substance use conditions. In this report, the American Academy of Pediatrics updates its 2009 policy statement, which proposed competencies for providing mental health care to children in primary care settings and recommended steps toward achieving them. This 2019 policy statement affirms the 2009 statement and expands competencies in response to science and policy that have emerged since: the impact of adverse childhood experiences and social determinants on mental health, trauma-informed practice, and team-based care. Importantly, it also recognizes ways in which the competencies are pertinent to pediatric subspecialty practice. Proposed mental health competencies include foundational communication skills, capacity to incorporate mental health content and tools into health promotion and primary and secondary preventive care, skills in the psychosocial assessment and care of children with mental health conditions, knowledge and skills of evidence-based psychosocial therapy and psychopharmacologic therapy, skills to function as a team member and comanager with mental health specialists, and commitment to embrace mental health practice as integral to pediatric care. Achievement of these competencies will necessarily be incremental, requiring partnership with fellow advocates, system changes, new payment mechanisms, practice enhancements, and decision support for pediatricians in their expanded scope of practice.

Achieving the Pediatric Mental Health Competencies.

Mental health disorders affect 1 in 5 children; however, the majority of affected children do not receive appropriate services, leading to adverse adult outcomes. To meet the needs of children, pediatricians need to take on a larger role in addressing mental health problems. The accompanying policy statement, "Mental Health Competencies for Pediatric Practice," articulates mental health competencies pediatricians could achieve to improve the mental health care of children; yet, the majority of pediatricians do not feel prepared to do so. In this technical report, we summarize current initiatives and resources that exist for trainees and practicing pediatricians across the training continuum. We also identify gaps in mental health clinical experience and training and suggest areas in which education can be strengthened. With this report, we aim to stimulate efforts to address gaps by summarizing educational strategies that have been applied and could be applied to undergraduate medical education, residency and fellowship training, continuing medical education, maintenance of certification, and practice quality improvement activities to achieve the pediatric mental health competencies. In this report, we also articulate the research questions important to the future of pediatric mental health training and practice.

Incorporating Recognition and Management of Perinatal Depression Into Pediatric Practice.

Perinatal depression is the most common obstetric complication in the United States, with prevalence rates of 15% to 20% among new mothers. Untreated, it can adversly affect the well-being of children and families throught increasing the risk for costly complications during birth and lead to deterioration of core supports, including partner relationships and social networks. Perinatal depression contributes to long-lasting, and even permanent, consequences for the physical and mental health of parents and children, including poor family functioning, increased risk of child abuse and neglect, delayed infant development, perinatal obstetric complications, challenges with breastfeeding, and costly increases in health care use. Perinatal depression can interfere with early parent-infant interaction and attachment, leading to potentially long-term disturbances in the child's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development. Fortunately, perinatal depression is identifiable and treatable. The US Preventive Services Task Force, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and many professional organizations recommend routine universal screening for perinatal depression in women to facilitate early evidence-based treatment and referrals, if necessary. Despite significant gains in screening rates from 2004 to 2013, a minority of pediatricians routinely screen for postpartum depression, and many mothers are still not identified or treated. Pediatric primary care clinicians, with a core mission of promoting child and family health, are in an ideal position to implement routine postpartum depression screens at several well-child visits throughout infancy and to provide mental health support through referrals and/or the interdisciplinary services of a pediatric patient-centered medical home model.

Incorporating Recognition and Management of Perinatal Depression Into Pediatric Practice.

Perinatal depression (PND) is the most common obstetric complication in the United States. Even when screening results are positive, mothers often do not receive further evaluation, and even when PND is diagnosed, mothers do not receive evidence-based treatments. Studies reveal that postpartum depression (PPD), a subset of PND, leads to increased costs of medical care, inappropriate medical treatment of the infant, discontinuation of breastfeeding, family dysfunction, and an increased risk of abuse and neglect. PPD, specifically, adversely affects this critical early period of infant brain development. PND is an example of an adverse childhood experience that has potential long-term adverse health complications for the mother, her partner, the infant, and the mother-infant dyad. However, PND can be treated effectively, and the stress on the infant can be buffered. Pediatric medical homes should coordinate care more effectively with prenatal providers for women with prenatally diagnosed maternal depression; establish a system to implement PPD screening at the 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-month well-child visits; use community resources for the treatment and referral of the mother with depression; and provide support for the maternal-child (dyad) relationship, including breastfeeding support. State chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, working with state departments of public health, public and private payers, and maternal and child health programs, should advocate for payment and for increased training for PND screening and treatment. American Academy of Pediatrics recommends advocacy for workforce development for mental health professionals who care for young children and mother-infant dyads, and for promotion of evidence-based interventions focused on healthy attachment and parent-child relationships.

Trauma-Informed Primary Care: Prevention, Recognition, and Promoting Resilience.

Trauma-informed care integrates an understanding of the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and their impact on lifelong health. The science of early brain development reveals that the environment in which children develop-family, community, and culture-impacts brain development, health, and genetics. In the medical home, being trauma-informed is important for prevention and amelioration of this impact.

A Commentary on Pediatric Oral Health in North Carolina.

Pediatric oral health care in North Carolina has taken a unique path to its current form and will require similar innovation to counter headwinds to its continued success. This commentary describes that path and attempts to set a vision and strategy for the future that leverages Community Care of North Carolina's infrastructure and continues to promote the expansion of clinical guidelines for pediatric preventive oral health care for vulnerable populations.

Early Childhood Home Visiting.

High-quality home-visiting services for infants and young children can improve family relationships, advance school readiness, reduce child maltreatment, improve maternal-infant health outcomes, and increase family economic self-sufficiency. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports unwavering federal funding of state home-visiting initiatives, the expansion of evidence-based programs, and a robust, coordinated national evaluation designed to confirm best practices and cost-efficiency. Community home visiting is most effective as a component of a comprehensive early childhood system that actively includes and enhances a family-centered medical home.

Improving delivery of Bright Futures preventive services at the 9- and 24-month well child visit.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if clinicians and staff from 21 diverse primary care practice settings could implement the 2008 Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 3rd edition recommendations, at the 9- and 24-month preventive services visits. METHODS: Twenty-two practice settings from 15 states were selected from 51 applicants to participate in the Preventive Services Improvement Project (PreSIP). Practices participated in a 9-month modified Breakthrough Series Collaborative from January to November 2011. Outcome measures reflect whether the 17 components of Bright Futures recommendations were performed at the 9- and 24-month visits for at least 85% of visits. Additional measures identified which office systems were in place before and after the collaborative. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant increase for all 17 measures. Overall participating practices achieved an 85% completion rate for the preventive services measures except for discussion of parental strengths, which was reported in 70% of the charts. The preventive services score, a summary score for all the chart audit measures, increased significantly for both the 9-month (7 measures) and 24-month visits (8 measures). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians and staff from various practice settings were able to implement the majority of the Bright Futures recommended preventive services at the 9- and 24-month visits at a high level after participation in a 9-month modified Breakthrough Series collaborative.

The importance of routine screening for strengths and risks in primary care of children and adolescents.

Providing a medical home for a child or adolescent and his or her family means establishing a longitudinal relationship between the primary care clinician (PCC) and the family. PCC's, by implementing routine screening and surveillance, have the opportunity at every encounter with the family to promote healthy development-motor, language, cognitive, and social-emotional.

Promising insights into the health related quality of life for children with severe obesity.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is a growing health concern known to adversely affect quality of life in children and adolescents. The Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric measures were developed to capture child self-reports across a variety of health conditions experienced by children and adolescents. The purpose of this study is to begin the process of validation of the PROMIS pediatric measures in children and adolescents affected by obesity. METHODS: The pediatric PROMIS instruments were administered to 138 children and adolescents in a cross-sectional study of patient reported outcomes in children aged 8-17 years with age-adjusted body mass index (BMI) greater than the 85th percentile in a design to establish known-group validity. The children completed the depressive symptoms, anxiety, anger, peer relationships, pain interference, fatigue, upper extremity, and mobility PROMIS domains utilizing a computer interface. PROMIS domains and individual items were administered in random order and included a total of 95 items. Patient responses were compared between patients with BMI 85 to<99th percentile versus ≥99th percentile. RESULTS: 136 participants were recruited and had all necessary clinical data for analysis. Of the 136 participants, 5% ended the survey early resulting in missing domain scores at the end of survey administration. In multivariate analysis, patients with BMI ≥ 99th percentile had worse scores for depressive symptoms, anger, fatigue, and mobility (p<0.05). Parent-reported exercise was associated with better scores for depressive symptoms, anxiety, and fatigue (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents ranging from overweight to severely obese can complete multiple PROMIS pediatric measures using a computer interface in the outpatient setting. In the 5% with missing domain scores, the missing scores were consistently found in the domains administered last, suggesting the length of the assessment is important. The differences in domain scores found in this study are consistent with previous reports investigating the quality of life in children and adolescents with obesity. We show that the PROMIS instrument represents a feasible and potentially valuable instrument for the future study of the effect of pediatric obesity on quality of life.

Incorporating recognition and management of perinatal and postpartum depression into pediatric practice.

Every year, more than 400,000 infants are born to mothers who are depressed, which makes perinatal depression the most underdiagnosed obstetric complication in America. Postpartum depression leads to increased costs of medical care, inappropriate medical care, child abuse and neglect, discontinuation of breastfeeding, and family dysfunction and adversely affects early brain development. Pediatric practices, as medical homes, can establish a system to implement postpartum depression screening and to identify and use community resources for the treatment and referral of the depressed mother and support for the mother-child (dyad) relationship. This system would have a positive effect on the health and well-being of the infant and family. State chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, working with state Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) and maternal and child health programs, can increase awareness of the need for perinatal depression screening in the obstetric and pediatric periodicity of care schedules and ensure payment. Pediatricians must advocate for workforce development for professionals who care for very young children and for promotion of evidence-based interventions focused on healthy attachment and parent-child relationships.