A Message from Shelly Voet, MD
March 27, 2022
Dear fellow pediatric providers,
I hope you are doing well.
This issue of Synapse has information about upcoming and past CME (Constipation and Macrocephaly) and ADHD summer treatment camp options for patients.
Here are some updates from our Community Practice Advisory Council:
Mental health – We are all acutely aware of the mental health crisis that has occurred in pediatrics, magnified by COVID-19. The crisis has intensified in the last few weeks. The inpatient psychiatry unit at CCHMC has been at capacity and patients have had to board in the ED or in medical beds every day. We encourage any provider seeing an outpatient in need of a step up in care to contact PIRC to discuss options – including Bridge Clinic (current wait time one week), Partial Hospitalization Program (3 weeks); or Intensive Outpatient Program (3 weeks). If you have the time to support national efforts, a joint venture of the AAP, AACP and the Children’s Hospital Association called “Sound the Alarm for Kids” has resources and makes it easy to contact your representatives. Over 400 AAP members also participated in almost 300 virtual congressional visits this past week as part of the Academy’s Advocacy Conference.
E-Consult – Approximately 185 pediatric providers have tried E-Consult through Epic Link so far. For those of us who have used it, and the specialists who receive the messages, it has been a welcome new way to securely connect clinically on non-urgent patient issues. An E-Consult connection can help ensure the specialist is aware of clinical issues before or between specialty visits since the consult goes directly to the clinical team instead of scheduling. If you have not used it yet, please review the article in this issue for more information.
Neonatology Follow-up clinic - This month, Neonatology Follow-up clinic was added to the list of E-Consult specialists. Preterm infants hospitalized at CCHMC meeting certain criteria are automatically enrolled. However, the clinic also accepts infants born at outside hospitals who may have healthcare needs that would benefit from a multidisciplinary approach. The clinic visit schedule is meant to complement primary care. To refer to the clinic using the faxed referral sheet, check “other” and write in “NICU Follow up Clinic”. You can contact the clinic 513-636-3882 or via nurse email at NFCNurse@cchmc.org.
Weekly “COVID-19” email – In conjunction with CPAC, Therese Martin and the physician outreach team will be adapting the weekly email. We will include more non-COVID content including links to recent and upcoming CME, links to census information, “What’s Bugging Us”, and mental health information.
Healthcare Workforce – If you are interested in resources for building a stronger workforce, or have patients interested in learning more about healthcare careers, check out The Health Collaborative’s Workforce Innovation site HERE. It is full of resources for students, employers, and educators.
COVID-19 – As cases in our area decline, and other viral illnesses come back, we are having some lengthy discussions in the exam room about testing and vaccines. We discussed several of these issues in our recent Town Hall. Bottom line – Vaccination for kids still makes sense. While cases are down here now, they are increasing in other locations. Omicron caused serious illness in children and teens, and mainly in those who were unvaccinated. We do not know exactly how long natural immunity lasts and how protective it is. Vaccination remains an important component of protecting both the individual and reducing transmission which allows variants to continue to occur. Vaccines for children under 5 are expected to become available in the next few months from both Moderna (2 dose series) and Pfizer (3 dose series).
CME Highlight this month – If you missed it, the March 15 Grand Rounds by CCHMC Residency Alum Dr. Hoover Adger, Jr. on Supporting Children and Families Affected by Substance Use Disorders provided very practical tools for screening and intervention, including motivational interviewing techniques. You can watch on the CCHMC CME site HERE.
Thanks for all you do for the kids in our region.
Shelly
Shelly F. Voet MD
Pediatric Associates PSC
Cincinnati Children’s Executive Community Physician Leader