Resources & Tools for Alabama Pediatricians

In addition to providing resources for legislative advocacy and practice management, the Alabama Chapter-AAP offers the following tools for Alabama pediatricians, many of which were developed through Chapter projects.  

Promoting the importance of the Medical Home to your families

Developmental Screening

Other helpful & related websites

Mental Health

Communication with mental health professionals

Communication between pediatricians, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and other mental health providers have been poor historically.  HIPAA rules have made the flow of information on certain patients more problematic.  Here are some things that pediatricians can do to (hopefully) facilitate information-sharing that will benefit the patient.

  1. Obtain from the parent (and patient, if 14 years of age or older) a release of information form so that the mental health professional can freely give feedback to the referring physician.  This should be signed prior to the appointment with the mental health provider and faxed to his/her office.

  2. When making a mental health referral (especially to a psychologist), be as specific as possible about the reason for the consult.  If you are requesting testing, indicate whether the testing is to determine IQ, learning disabilities, autism, etc.  This helps the mental health professional know which testing will give you the answers you need.

  3. You can also indicate to the psychiatrist if you are willing to manage medications once the patient is stable.  Pediatricians should be able to manage stimulants in uncomplicated ADHD, and perhaps SSRIs, with stable patients who are receiving counseling for depression or anxiety.

Screening

Screening instruments can be beneficial to a pediatrician in determining whether a patient is struggling with a mental health condition. Alabama Medicaid and many private insurers will pay for their use-96110 for developmental screens and 96127 for brief emotional/behavioral assessment. Many screens are known to pediatricians, such as the Ages & Stages Questionnaire or Vanderbilt Rating Scale.  The AAP has listed several mental health assessment tools on their website here.  Listed below are links to several free screening to add to your arsenal:

Other useful resources:

Positive Parenting Tips (CDC)

Essentials for Parenting (CDC site that includes videos parents can watch)

Facts for Families-from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (This site has useful information for families with children who have a variety of emotional or psychiatric problems.)

Child Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) (Set of skills designed to improve interactions of any adult and child) - Request a workshop in your area

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

 

Child Abuse Reporting in Alabama

Oral Health

JUST FOR FUN!

This five-minute video celebrates the many healthy messages from pediatricians who participated throughout the 2013-2014 "Choose to Have a Healthy Family, Alabama!" campaign and sums up our vision for child health in Alabama!