Board Transitions Underway
Rupin Thakkar, MD, FAAP
President, WCAAP
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Welcome new board members!
As our leadership terms begin July 1, every summer I am sad to see treasured colleagues rotate off our board while simultaneously feeling excitement as we welcome new board members. With our decision this year to expand the number of board positions, I am happy to only have to bid farewell to one trustee while welcoming four more..
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Addressing Firearm Violence as a Public Health Crisis
Elizabeth Meade, MD, FAAP
Vice President, WCAAP
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Chapter collaborates with other health organizations
On June 19, experts from King County Public Health, WCAAP, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, King County Medical Society, Washington Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, and the Washington State Trauma and EMS Steering Committee came together for a press conference at Harborview to address firearm violence and discuss ways the medical community can address this public health crisis. I was honored to be one of the speakers and to share my experiences, and proud to see the number of pediatricians on the panel - we know that gun violence affects every community, every family, and all too many children in Washington state.
Learn more...
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Advocacy Update: Meet Your Legislators!
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Interim meetings help build relationships
WCAAP members around the state are scheduling meetings with their legislators while they are back in their home districts! Some of the meetings coming up this summer and fall:
- Yakima
- Tri-Cities
- Mercer Island
- Tacoma
- Spokane
- North Seattle
- Bainbridge Island
- Olympia
- Vancouver
Let us know if you would like information on any of these upcoming meetings or if you'd like help arranging your own meeting with legislators in your district!
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Pediatric Population Health Forum
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Day-long forum with an emphasis on pediatric life stages and social determinants of health.
Yakima, WA | Yakima Convention Center
Saturday, September 22, 2018
8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Learn strategies from state and national leaders and clinicians at the forefront of value-based care in pediatrics to integrate care and improve outcomes. Morning plenary speakers and afternoon breakout sessions will focus on the most effective ways to improve child health and to support the use of medical homes.
Featuring Key Note Speakers: Sue Birch, RN, MBA, director, Washington State Health Care Authority; and Amy Compton-Phillips, MD, executive vice president and chief clinical officer, Providence St. Joseph Health.
View the agenda here.
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Transgender Youth: Creating a Welcoming Environment
Ruth McDonald, MD
Vice President of Medical Affairs, Seattle Children's
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Providers can create a safe and welcoming environment
Two of the biggest challenges facing transgender youth are a lack of acceptance from their families and difficulty finding supportive medical and mental healthcare. While LGBTQ youth as a whole have higher rates of low self-esteem, substance abuse, depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicidality than their peers, the incidence specifically among trans youth is even higher.
Read more...
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Improving the Accuracy of Immunization Rate Data
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Taking steps to ensure accurate data
I am a primary care pediatrician, trained in one of the best residency programs in the country and inspired by great, too-many-to-mention community pediatricians practicing primary care. So of course our practice does all we can to ensure our patients are fully immunized. From keeping an appropriate supply of perfectly refrigerated/frozen stock, to asking about catch-up at nearly every visit, to running an impressive mass vaccination during flu shot season. We even cultivate our relationship with the vaccine-hesitant parents to slowly, fully immunize their children.
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Reducing Avoidable ED Use
Beth Harvey, MD, FAAP
Lead, Physician Champions
Pediatric Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative
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Parent education materials piloted
One goal of the
Pediatric Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative
(P-TCPI), in alignment with the common measure set, is to reduce avoidable emergency department use. The P-TCPI team is partnering with the ER is for Emergencies group to help target interventions to reduce avoidable ED use and to address the behavioral health issues that also impact ED use. To make progress on this goal, the P-TCPI Physician Champion team recently piloted materials to communicate with families about medical home versus emergency department care and fever.
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Congratulations New Fellows!
Cheryl de Silva, MD, FAAP
David Pavlik, DO, FAAP
Daniel Pugmire, MD, FAAP
Ginnie Taylor, MD, FAAP
Mahesh Thapa, MD, FAAP -
Radiology Specialty Fellow
Congratulations to
Cora Breuner, MD, MPH, FAAP, who was recently given the Stanley Stamm Role Model in Medicine award! The honor is bestowed annually by the University of Washington's pediatrics residency program to a physician who embodies the spirit of the late Dr. Stanley Stamm.
In case you missed it,
Wendy Sue Swanson, MD, FAAP shares social media best practices in the
July AAP News, including guidance on levels of engagement and tips on different social media platforms.
Depression screening webinar: AAP recommends routine (annual) depression screening for adolescents due to depression being a common and treatable problem, which often goes unrecognized and untreated. To encourage more screening, Washington's Medicaid health plans now reimburse for adolescent depression screens with CPT code 96127. If you are considering incorporating depression screenings into your practice, we have a new webinar training available, thanks to generous support from Amerigroup:
Register Online.
Swedish Health Services shared this
information sheet with for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers with facts on
marijuana use during pregnancy and breastfeeding and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Coming Up: WCAAP Committee Meetings
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Join us! Committees are a great way to meet other members and get involved with Chapter work! Watch this space for upcoming meeting dates and times for Chapter committees and interest groups. Most committees meet by phone for one hour.
Health Care Transformation Committee
Meets by telephone
Legislative Affairs Committee
Meets weekly by phone during the legislative session & special session
Meets monthly by phone during the interim
Next phone meeting July 17, 7:00-8:00am
Early Learning Committee
Meets periodically by telephone
Sustainability & Engagement Committee
August 28 - 12:00-1:00pm
Meets monthly by telephone
Vaccine Committee
Meets 2x/year
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What's Happening?
We bring education and networking events to providers all over Washington. Find all of our latest upcoming events plus offerings from our partners around the state on our website's
Events
page!
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| Thank you to our sponsors:
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