Tag: health policy

How Children’s Hospitals Can Gain Social Awareness Via ACOs

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Originally published on Cornerstone, the CHOP Research Blog.

I composed this original article based on an interview with the investigator.

Excerpt:

Five-year-old Jasmine’s family hears from her pediatrician’s office a lot more often than they used to, and they discuss topics ranging far beyond Jasmine’s health and development. That is because Jasmine (a fictional example) sees a doctor in a health network that has a different kind of contract with her insurance provider, designating it as an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), and as a result it takes a broader view of its role in preventive care than most.

Health policy experts anticipate that ACOs will improve population health under the Affordable Care Act, but demonstrating the value of pediatric ACOs remains a challenge. Policy researchers at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are among those leading a public conversation about how pediatric hospitals and health systems can address social factors affecting health within ACO structures, now that some of the first research on the effect of pediatric ACOs on the use and costs of healthcare resources has begun to emerge.

HealthCare.Gov Upgrades Are Just What This Doctor Ordered

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Originally published on Cornerstone, the CHOP Research Blog

I composed this original blog post based on an interview with the investigator and aggregation of related published material.

Excerpt:

When the third round of open enrollment begins on the federal health insurance marketplace Nov. 1, shoppers will see some major changes. These changes might be just what the doctor ordered — if the doctor you are talking to is Charlene Wong, MD, MSHP, a health policy researcher and adolescent medicine fellow at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Wong and colleagues have studied how young adults experience the use of the federal site, HealthCare.gov, and state-based exchanges. Access to health care in this age group is critical for the success of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as for setting young adults up for healthy lives with regular preventive care services.

Universal Autism Screening in Young Children Under Question

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Originally published on Cornerstone, the CHOP Research Blog

I wrote the introduction and edited the body of this article based on a Q&A published by Medscape.

Excerpt:

Many parents and clinicians are in a bind between conflicting recommendations about autism. Newly issued recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTSF) suggest that current evidence is not strong enough to justify universal screening for the condition in young children. The American Academy of Pediatrics takes an opposite stance and supports such screenings— typically a structured parental survey and short interview about a child’s behavior — for toddlers at 18 and 24 months of age.

How are autism experts weighing in about this conflict? Two experts from the Center for Autism Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, David Mandell, ScD, the center’s associate director, and Juhi Pandey, PhD, a pediatric neuropsychologist, participated in a Medscape Q&A to answer many key questions. In their in-depth conversation with the publication, Dr. Mandell and Dr. Pandey discussed the role of early autism screening compared to comprehensive clinical evaluation, as well as the value of early intervention for children who show signs of developmental delay on a screening.

Quick Takes: Obamacare and Same-Sex Marriage are Both Public Health Issues

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Drexel News Blog The Supreme Court issued its rulings today in the King v. Burwell case, upholding Obamacare’s subsidies and protecting access to affordable health care for millions of low- and middle-income Americans—a major victory in the view of most public health experts. Robert I. … Continue reading Quick Takes: Obamacare and Same-Sex Marriage are Both Public Health Issues