Harvey K. Chiu, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology

Thyroid Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. 

Nearly universal screening for congenital hypothyroidism has dramatically decreased the incidence of consequent catastrophic mental retardation.  Skin punctures readily provide dried blood spot samples for simple screening tests.  Most newborn screening tests in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Japan use TSH to screen for primary hypothyroidism, which occurs in 1:3000-1:4000 births.  Ideally, this screen should occur at 48-72 hours of life, as collections performed at less than 24 hours of life may fail to capture the transient neonatal TSH surge that normally occurs to increase brown adipose tissue thermogenesis in a physiologic response to neonatal cooling (1).  Conversely, screens performed at 24-48 hours of life may result in false positive screens, with a ratio of 2-3 falsely abnormal values for every true positive.  Such limitations in newborn screening have become more prevalent with increasing economic pressures for early neonatal discharge.  READ FULL ARTICLE.

AAP-CA2 is still recruiting practices interested in participating in the AAP Chapter Quality Network Asthma Phase 4 Project.  Nine pactices representing the Counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino are already involved.

Goal: To systematically change physician care practices in accordance with the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NHLBI/NAEPP) asthma guidelines

 

Using quality improvement methods, practices will make key practice changes with tools, assistance from a QI coach, and data to guide their progress. Data will be collected at the point of care using an encounter form that also provides decision support to clinicians. On demand data reports highlighting practice performance on multiple measures are provided to practices. Data collection on patient encounters over a 10 month period will track increases in percentage of patients receiving Optimal Asthma Care - a bundled measure that includes use of a standardized method to measure asthma control, a stepwise approach to treatment, provision of an asthma action plan, and persistent asthma patients on controller medications.

• 25 points of Maintenance of Certification Part 4 (MOC) credit Performance in Practice
• 20 credits of Performance Improvement Continuing Medical Education (PI CME)

For more information, contact the Chapter by replying to this email.

To read the full description of this project, please Click here.

 

Chris Landon, MD, FAAP, FCCP. CDM

AAP-CA2 Secretary

As a result of statewide advocacy efforts by families and organizations concerned with developmental services, both the California Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees voted unanimously to return eligibility for Early Start to pre-2009 levels.

An infant or toddler born to a parent with a developmental disability is also considered eligible under this category.

Children born with a condition with a known probability of causing a disability or delay such as Down syndrome or cerebral palsy qualify under the Established Risk category. This did not change in 2009.

If your patient fails a standardized developmental screening, or you suspect that an infant or toddler's development is delayed, you may make a referral to your local Early Start Program.

Additionally, if an eligible child needs medical therapies such as physical, speech, or occupational therapies, Regional Centers require families to first access insurance before they consider funding those services. To see flyer, please Click Here.