In August We Welcome Transitions
In August, we welcome transitions,
Farewell to great advocates and hello to new physicians,
We address mental health and health care disparities,
And find our voice through legislative solidarity.
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President's Column
Nelson Branco, MD, FAAP
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This has been a year of transitions for the Branco family. My oldest graduated from college and will be moving to a new city, and the twins are graduating from high school and moving on to colleges on opposite sides of the country. Nell and I are proud and excited for all of them as they move on to new challenges and are more than a little anxious about what life will be like without them as part of the daily activity at home. Little did I know that those same emotions would apply in my role as president of Chapter 1. |
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By the time you’re reading this, Isra Uz-Zaman, our intrepid Chapter Executive Director will have finished her time with us as she moves on to medical school. To quote Dr. Nikki Webb, “I am 94% excited for you, and 6% disappointed for us.” That captures it perfectly. I am so happy for Isra as she pursues this goal, but more than a little anxious about what life will be like without her as part of our chapter. I have known Isra since she became AAP CA1 Executive Director, after working at AAP-California with Kris Kalvin. From the outset, I was impressed with her calm, organized, careful and proficient handling of our chapter. I have been lucky enough to work closely with her not only as a member of the CME committee but as Chapter VP and now President. I will miss our many meetings and our weekly check-ins, especially sharing travel tales, hobbies, funny stories, and of course the cameo appearances by her niece Salwa. No one can compete with Isra for fun icebreakers! I have learned a lot from her, and I know that she will be a kind, caring, thoughtful and excellent physician. I look forward to welcoming her back someday as a member. You can be sure we’ll be calling on her to be part of our committees and leadership when she returns to AAP CA1.
We are fortunate to have Yolanda Ruiz, our new and extremely capable Project Assistant, step up and increase her time as we recruit a new Executive Director. I hope you all have a chance to meet and work with Yolanda - she has been a great addition to our AAP CA1 team and I am glad to be working more closely with her to keep all of the chapter projects and activities going.
We have listed the AAP CA1 Executive Director position on several websites, including Indeed, LinkedIn, and on our AAP CA1 Chapter Job Board. We have already reviewed many excellent applicants and the board is engaged in finding the right fit for our chapter. I will use this opportunity to promote our new chapter job board. Thanks to Dr. Mika Hiramatsu, Dr. Niki Saxena, Isra, Yolanda, and our web development team we are able to provide this service to our chapter members and local organizations. Please use it and let your colleagues know about it!
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The final transitions I’d like to recognize are for our Advocacy Committee and Immigrant Health Task Force. Congratulations are in order for our new Advocacy Committee co-chairs: Dr. Stephanie Fong Gomez, Dr. Annie Kaplan, Dr. Morgan Leighton and the Residency Chair, Dr. Nathaniel Kralik. I look forward to working with all of you. I’d also like to recognize Dr. Raul Gutierrez, Dr. Priya Pathak, and Dr. Alexandria Valdrighi for their leadership of our Immigrant Health Task Force. Thank you all for your work on behalf of our chapter and the immigrant children and families that we all care for. If you are interested in applying for a leadership position with the Immigrant Health Task Force, please apply by clicking here.
I hope that everyone enjoys the last month of summer - I’m sure most of us have been busy with school and sports physicals. Hopefully, you have also been able to enjoy some time off to do something you love.
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Visit and Post on Our Job Board! |
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Our Puzzles CME Conference is Back December 10! |
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Join AAPCA1 for our 7th Annual Puzzles CME Conference with interactive lectures by experts in pediatric neurology, dentistry, infectious disease, and much more. We heard you! This year's Puzzles will include a lunchtime meet & greet / networking session, and the day will end by 3:45 p.m. so you can plan a Saturday evening out! |
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Mental Health Committee Update:
The Mental Health Crisis
Diane Dooley MD, FAAP
Chair, AAPCA1 Mental Health Committee
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As we know, we are all witnessing a remarkable surge in mental health concerns for children and youth. The isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the stresses seen before the pandemic began, have resulted in a dramatic increase in suicides, ER visits, hospitalizations, and reports of depression and anxiety among teens and school-aged children.
Our Mental Health Committee has been working hard to gather resources and take action to address these issues. This diverse group, which includes pediatricians throughout our Chapter, as well as child psychiatrists, nurses, and academic partners, meets several times a year to discuss and share ideas, as well as to plan educational and advocacy events. Our three educational Chapter Chats this year have been well-received. In partnership with the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Portal, we’ve covered topics such as addressing mental health in primary care, adolescent depression, and perinatal depression. These Chats are all available on California Chapter 1, AAP’s Past Events Page.
We have also been actively involved in mental health advocacy, dedicating two Behavioral Health Chats to conversations with the leadership of California’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative. For the first time, we’ve also had a subcommittee working with California AAP regarding advocacy on mental health bills in the California legislature.
Although the progress is very slow, I believe that we are beginning to witness new initiatives and policies that will be helping our children and youth, along with their families, caregivers, and primary care providers invested in their futures. The two new initiatives that should be helping soon include:
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New policies clarifying the eligibility for specialty mental health. As most of you know, county mental health plans are responsible for caring for children and youth with “significant mental illness”; Medi-Cal Health plans and private insurance cover patients with less significant distress or risk. New eligibility criteria have been developed for children and youth of all insurance types to receive the extensive services offered in the specialty mental health system. Patients under age 21 years do not need to have a mental health diagnosis to qualify for services; eligibility is associated either with having a “condition placing them at high risk for a mental health disorder due to trauma” or impairment and a suspected or diagnosed mental health disorder. Since the ACEs screen alone could qualify your patient for services, you should consider sending a patient referral to your mental health plan whenever you think your patient is eligible. For more information about this, join us for our Chapter Chat in October on follow up and referrals for mental health concerns and see the relevant policies.
- Criteria for beneficiary access to Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS), medical necessity, and other coverage requirements
- No Wrong Door for Mental Health Services Policy
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New Medi-Cal coverage for Community Health Workers. Starting July 1, 2022, Medi-Cal added payment for Community Health Worker (CHW) offering preventive services to patients. We don’t have a lot of CHWs yet, but they will soon be available after completing a certification program or documenting work experience. With a provider’s order, CHWs will be able to provide health education, health navigation, and individual support to patients. Final details of this benefit are pending CMS approval.
- Community Health Workers
For those of you seeking more information on improving your mental health skills, please consider having your practice join the UCSF Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Portal, a free child psychiatry access program that offers real-time consultation, continuing provider education, and care coordination throughout Northern California. For more information, see:
Everyone in our Chapter is welcome to join the committee, as well as participate in our events. Contact AAPCA1 staff at info@aapca1.org if you wish to join.
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Register Now! Pediatric Mental Health Boot Camp, September 24, 2022
The UCSF Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Portal (CAPP) and Fresno Madera Medical Society (FMMS) are hosting a one-day, in-person "Pediatric Mental Health Boot Camp" in Fresno on September 24, 2022. This interactive training for pediatric primary care providers will cover the basics of diagnosing and managing ADHD, anxiety, and depression in children and adolescents, including both psychosocial and pharmacological treatments. We will also be discussing stigma in mental health, and communication strategies for engaging patients and families in collaborative decision-making around mental health concerns.
This activity is supported by grants from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in partnership with Anthem and Beacon. There is no cost to participants.
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Great News! New Eligibility for Early Intervention
Renee C. Wachtel, MD, FAAP
Chair, AAPCA1 Committee on Development and Behavior
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A major step forward has been taken by the CA Legislature and Governor Newson. Starting July 1 this year, infants and toddlers from birth to age 3 will be eligible for Regional Center Early Intervention programs if they have a 25% delay in any one of the six developmental areas:
- Receptive language
- Expressive language
- Cognitive
- Adaptive (self-help)
- Social-Emotional
- Physical (gross and fine motor)
In addition, there continues to be no cost to families for the developmental evaluation or developmental services provided if the child is eligible for the program.
This is one of the changes that developmental specialists have been advocating for since the developmental screening tools that pediatricians use such as Ages and Stages-3 has a cutoff for concern at 25% delay. Prior to July 1, children had to be 33% delayed to qualify for the program. The requirement that the developmental evaluation for eligibility must be conducted within 45 calendar days of the referral should encourage all pediatricians to continue their developmental screenings and referrals to the Early Start Regional Center program in their county.
This also may impact the newly expanded eligibility for Regional Center services for children 3-5 years, who no longer require a diagnosis and can be eligible if they have delays in 2 developmental areas. Stay tuned for more information about this.
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You can find the video and slides for our Chapter Chat, "Attitudes, Access, and Barriers Towards Developmental Screening in Communities of Color," on our Past Events Page.
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The SGA Side
Your Key to State Government Affairs
Nora Pfaff, MD, FAAP and Anna Kaplan, MD, FAAP
SGA Chapter Representatives
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The SGA Committee continues to meet monthly to discuss bill progress and various other committee action items, such as selecting the CMA (California Medical Association) House of Delegates representatives for each chapter—a way to give pediatric voices a place in the larger CMA organization in voting for CMA president-elect, resolutions, etc.
Some updates on bills we have supported and discussed in this legislative cycle: SB 866 (Wiener: Minor Vaccines Consent) is still having some difficulty securing a vote. The status of this bill is that it has gone through a couple of amendments (including increasing the age of minors able to consent for vaccines from 12 to 15) and has been ordered for a third reading. As a reminder, current law permits minors 12 and older to consent to HPV and Hepatitis B vaccination as well as diagnosis and treatment of STIs, intimate partner violence injuries, substance use treatment, pregnancy/abortion services, and mental health services. They cannot, however, under existing law consent to other vaccines (including the COVID-19 vaccine). Please reach out to your representatives to advocate on this important vote which would help increase vaccine equity and adolescent vaccination rates.
We know many members in our chapter are eagerly awaiting updates on AB 2697 (Aguiar-Curry: Medi-Cal: Community Health Workers and Promotores) for funding community health workers/promotores for purposes of providing and expanding a variety of services (such as screening/referrals/resources etc) to patients, clinics, and hospitals under Medi-Cal. Currently, the bill passed the Senate Committee on Health and has been re-referred to Committee on Appropriations, expected to be in the budget.
For the most up-to-date information on AAP California bill positions, letters & outcomes from the current CA Legislative year, go to https://ctweb.capitoltrack.com. For the latest organizational advocacy updates follow @AAPCADocs on Twitter. If you have questions and/or are interested in knowing more about certain legislation, reach out to our State Government Affairs Chapter Representative Nora Pfaff, MD, FAAP and Anna Kaplan, MD, FAAP at info@aapca1.org.
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Resolution Votes are Happening August 4-7! |
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Our chapter’s resolutions are being voted on by AAP chapter leadership from around the country this weekend, August 4-7. You can view the resolutions AAPCA1 submitted here: |
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We have been expanding our efforts to connect with you across our social platforms! Our goal is to provide you with more resources and keep you informed on our events. Here is our most recent campaign with great resources:
Suicide Prevention Awareness: View the posts and their resources here.
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To stay updated on current events and campaigns connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Linkedin! Click the links below: |
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August 17 - The Impact of Comorbidities on ADHD Assessment and Treatment with Case Examples- Improving ADHD Care in Pediatric Settings Series - REGISTER HERE
August 24 - HP 2020 Medical-Legal Partnerships - SAVE THE DATE!
November 17-20 - 43rd Annual las Vegas Seminars: Pediatric Update - REGISTER HERE
December 10 - 7th Annual Puzzles CME Conference - SAVE THE DATE! - VIEW EVENT HERE!
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Add our social media accounts to get the latest chapter updates!
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Your membership makes a difference for children in California, thank you!
The AAPCA1's ability to advocate on behalf of children is only as strong as the support we receive from our members. Encourage your colleagues to join today by visiting the AAPCA1 website.
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Our mission is to promote the optimal health and development of children and
adolescents of Northern California in partnership with their families and communities, and to support the pediatricians who care for them.
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Executive Committee:
President: Nelson Branco • Vice President: Nicole Webb
• Secretary: Resham Kaur • Treasurer: Amita Saxena • Past President: Raelene Walker
Executive Director: Isra Uz-Zaman
Board Members:
North Valley MAL: Thiyagu Ganesan • Sacramento Valley MAL: Lena van der List • Central Valley MAL: Deborah Shassetz • South Valley MAL: Vacant • San Francisco MAL: Maya Raman • Santa Clara MAL: Vacant • San Mateo MAL: Neel Patel • North Coastal MAL: Jeffrey Ribordy • Monterey Bay MAL: Graciela Wilcox • Alameda MAL: Renee Wachtel • Contra Costa/Solano MAL: Omoniyi Omotoso
Pediatric Insider News Editors:
• Mika Hiramatsu • Deborah Shassetz • Alyssa Velasco
Staff:
• Project Assistant: Yolanda Ruiz
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