The Role of Clinic Preparedness to Support Patients and Strengthen the Medical System During and After a Pandemic.

Pediatric clinic preparedness is essential to improve the care and health outcomes for children during a pandemic and to decrease the burden on hospital systems. Clinic preparedness is a process that involves a well thought out plan that includes coordination with staff, open communication between the clinic and patient families, and collaboration with community partners. Planning for disasters can decrease some of the risks for our most vulnerable patients, including children and youth with special health care needs. There are plans, coalitions, and community partners that can help clinics in their preparedness journey.

Pediatric Practice Readiness for Disaster Response.

OBJECTIVES: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) calls for the inclusion of office-based pediatricians in disaster preparedness and response efforts. However, there is little research about disaster preparedness and response on the part of pediatric practices. This study describes the readiness of pediatric practices to respond to disaster and delineates factors associated with increased preparedness. METHODS: An AAP survey was distributed to members to assess the state of pediatric offices in readiness for disaster. Potential predictor variables used in chi-square analysis included community setting, primary employment setting, area of practice, and previous disaster experience. RESULTS: Three-quarters (74%) of respondents reported some degree of disaster preparedness (measured by 6 indicators including written plans and maintaining stocks of supplies), and approximately half (54%) reported response experience (measured by 3 indicators, including volunteering to serve in disaster areas). Respondents who reported disaster preparation efforts were more likely to have signed up for disaster response efforts, and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS: These results contribute information about the state of pediatric physician offices and can aid in developing strategies for augmenting the inclusion of office-based pediatricians in community preparedness and response efforts.

A Framework for Coordination between Obstetric and Pediatric Providers in Public Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned from the Zika Outbreak in the United States, 2015 to 2017.

Emergency response to emerging threats with the potential for vertical transmission, such as the 2015 to 2017 response to Zika virus, presents unique clinical challenges that underscore the need for better communication and care coordination between obstetric and pediatric providers to promote optimal health for women and infants. Published guidelines for routine maternal-infant care during the perinatal period, and models for transitions of care in various health care settings are available, but no broad framework has addressed coordinated multidisciplinary care of the maternal-infant dyad during emergency response. We present a novel framework and strategies to improve care coordination and communication during an emergency response. The proposed framework includes (1) identification and collection of critical information to inform care, (2) key health care touchpoints for the maternal-infant dyad, and (3) primary pathways of communication and modes of transfer across touchpoints, as well as practical strategies. This framework and associated strategies can be modified to address the care coordination needs of pregnant women and their infants with possible exposure to other emerging infectious and noninfectious congenital threats that may require long-term, multidisciplinary management. KEY POINTS: · Emerging congential threats present unique coordination challenges for obstetric and pediatric clinicians during emergency response.. · We present a framework to help coodinate care of pregnant women/infants exposed to congenital threats.. · The framework identifies critical information to inform care, health care touchpoints, and communication/information transfer pathways..

PRIORITIZATION OF PEDIATRIC CBRNE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS EDUCATION AND TRAINING NEEDS.

Children are the members of our population who are most vulnerable to the effects of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive (CBRNE) attack. It has been over 12 years since 9/11 and the majority of clinicians who would be providing care to children in the event of another attack still lack the requisite disaster preparedness training. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the recent developments that will enable the affordable creation of key CBRNE educational and just in time material. In 2011, the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH) convened a pediatric disaster preparedness conference. Much of the initial groundwork for development of a pediatric disaster preparedness curriculum, including the identification of target audiences and requisite role specific CBRNE curriculum content, was the product of this conference. Much of the needed pediatric education and training content for the diagnosis and treatment of the injurious effects of CBRNE has recently been both developed and well vetted. Bringing together these efforts in an educational program will result in a workforce that is better trained and prepared to address the needs of children impacted by these types of disasters.

Pediatric private practice after Hurricane Katrina: proposal for recovery.

The health care system of the US Gulf Coast was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Physicians in the region have faced enormous financial and psychological challenges. Pediatricians have been particularly affected, because of the large number of children covered by Medicaid, with its associated low payments, and the failure of children and families to return to affected areas. Federal relief efforts to date have largely benefited nonprofit organizations, community health centers, and hospitals. Private physicians have received little to no governmental assistance, despite their vital role in the health care system. This article explores the many factors threatening the survival of pediatric private practice in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and offers some practical governmental solutions. The proposals outlined here aim to provide stability and recovery to health care in the region by enabling residents to obtain care from local preexisting providers on the Gulf Coast and ensuring that physicians are paid adequately for their services. These ideas have applicability beyond Hurricane Katrina and should encourage thought regarding health care delivery after future regional disasters.