Population Health

New National “Vital Signs” to Measure Population-wide Pediatric Health
New National “Vital Signs” to Measure Population-wide Pediatric Health 1024 683 Jeb Phillips

In 2017, an opinion piece in JAMA Pediatrics started this way: “We call for a national effort to develop a parsimonious set of quality and outcome measures for (all) children.” And now, for perhaps the first time in American pediatrics, that “parsimonious set: has been laid out to guide communities and health systems across the United…

Rural-Urban Differences in Social and Emotional Protective Factors
Rural-Urban Differences in Social and Emotional Protective Factors 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD

Efforts to improve child health and flourishing should consider communities’ unique sources of support. Children living in rural areas experience well-documented health and health care disparities compared to those living in urban areas. Protective factors, such as social connectedness and social engagement, also vary by geography, yet their contribution to differences in child health is…

The Success of an EMR-Based Health-Related Social Needs Screen in Pediatrics
The Success of an EMR-Based Health-Related Social Needs Screen in Pediatrics 1024 683 Deborah L. Ungerleider, MD, FAAP

Standardized universal HRSN screening with an EMR system and follow-up by social work consults can be successful and contribute to reducing health disparities.   Health-related social needs (HRSNs), sometimes referred to as social determinants of health (SODH), are the risk factors of food insecurity, lack of stable housing and poverty, all of which can play…

Dehumanizing Language in the Health Care System Harms Children With Incarcerated Family Members
Dehumanizing Language in the Health Care System Harms Children With Incarcerated Family Members 1024 683 Rosemary Martoma, MD and Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH

Dehumanizing Language Causes Harm Labels and language matter. Language has the power to condemn or redeem, and words reflect our values and beliefs as clinicians, scholars, and members of the community.” – Bedell et al., Humanity: Person-First Language in Correctional Health Epidemiology, American Journal of Epidemiology Children with incarcerated family members frequently face stigma and…

“Left Behind Again:” Rural Children Enrolled in Medicaid Use Home Health Services Far Less Than Urban Children
“Left Behind Again:” Rural Children Enrolled in Medicaid Use Home Health Services Far Less Than Urban Children 1024 575 Jeb Phillips

Data from a pediatric accountable care organization is allowing physicians and researchers to explore the rural-urban health care gap. While it’s long been clear that children in rural areas have reduced access to some kinds of health care services compared to their urban peers, understanding the specifics of the care gap has proven difficult, because…

Pharmacists: The ‘Next Big Thing’ in Population Health Management
Pharmacists: The ‘Next Big Thing’ in Population Health Management 1020 304 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
Nationwide Children's style illustration showing a row of houses with a prescription in front of it

One of the nation’s largest pediatric accountable care organizations has expanded pharmacists’ role in quality improvement efforts, which could substantially impact prescribing patterns and patient management. Partners For Kids (PFK), one of the country’s oldest and largest pediatric accountable care organizations, is a provider-based organization dedicated to population health management with three key aims: improved…

A Hidden Epidemic: Parental Incarceration and What To Do When It Affects Your Patients
A Hidden Epidemic: Parental Incarceration and What To Do When It Affects Your Patients 1024 512 Andrew Axelson and Samantha Boch, PhD

If having an incarcerated parent was classified as a chronic health condition, it would be the second most prevalent chronic condition in the United States for children under the age of 18 – just behind asthma. In fact, the percentage of American youth with an incarcerated parent is about 10 times higher than the percentage…

Moving From Child Health Care to Child Health
Moving From Child Health Care to Child Health 1024 575 Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH

As pediatricians, we want children to be healthier, even the ones who never come through our doors. At Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the board and leadership have aimed to do just that by setting the highest bar yet for our organization – we want central Ohio children to be the healthiest in the United States. But…

How Can You Optimize Care for Homeless Patients?
How Can You Optimize Care for Homeless Patients? 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

A recent policy statement from the AAP describes how pediatricians can help improve the health and well-being of homeless children in America. As of 2014, the National Center on Family Homelessness reported that a staggering 2.5 million children are homeless each year in America, a historic high representing one in every 30 children in the country. These…

Creating the Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhood
Creating the Patient-Centered Medical Neighborhood 1024 575 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

How do we create a more integrated healthcare delivery system to improve outcomes in our community? The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conceptualizes the medical neighborhood as a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and the network of other clinicians providing health care services to patients within it, along with community and social service organizations, as well…

The Childhood Roots of Illness
The Childhood Roots of Illness 1024 575 Dave Ghose
Toddler playing with toys

A growing body of scientific evidence reveals the dramatic impact of early-life adversity on lifelong health. Kelly Kelleher, MD, compares childhood health to a boulder sitting on the peak of a mountain. A slight push could send the boulder in many directions. And once it starts rolling, it’s hard to change its path. The same…