AAP NCE 2009 Day #2

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

District IV Breakfast Meeting.

Finally we get a break from the cold drizzle, and just when I found an abandoned broken umbrella in the street! Dad and I hoofed it over to the Grand Hyatt for...rolls. That’s right, the AAP literally can no longer afford bacon.

Robert Cicco, MD, FAAP introducing our next pediatric hero: Scott J. Cohen, MD, founder of Global Pediatric Alliance. Trains lay health workers to provide health outreach in the third world. Solving child and maternal health problems in developing countries.

Stephen Berman, MD, FAAP, AAP Past President: Healthcare in the New Millennium: Improved Health Care for Children?

• Access to care
• Current bill does not actually provide universal coverage
• Quality
• Needs meaningful quality measures
• Comparative effectiveness research
• Health Information Technology
• Pay needs to reward medical homes, performance
• Cost Containment
• At current rates of growth spending on healthcare will soon take up to 50% of the average family’s earnings
• Public option would help if done right.
• Really we need to fundamentally restructure our delivery system for healthcare
• Will children be better off with healthcare reform?
• Status of CHIP uncertain
• Tied to the Rockefeller Amendment in the Senate
• Private exchange plans would be worse for kids, need to try and exempt them.
• House Bill provides similar measure,
• Coverage for legal resident aliens is not addressed in the bill.
• Exchange plans currently are not required to have adequate pediatric benefits
• Must fix Sustainable Growth Formula to avoid draconian cuts to physician payments.
• We don’t know yet whether the current bills will help children.
• So call your legislators!

Dr. Olson Huff, Chair AAP Committee On Federal Affairs. The Role of Pediatricians in Health Care Reform and Federal Policy.

• I Care for Kids And I Vote tee-shirts available in the lobby for our march to Capitol Hill tomorrow
• Need to emphasize and remember what it is we do for a living
• What have we accomplished so far?
• Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act
• Product Safety Reform
• Clean Air Mercury Rule
• Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act
• Mental Health Parity
• Must advocate strongly now
• Call
• Fax
• Email
• Write letters
• Meet with legislators
• Join the FAAN network

Janet Marchibroda, Chief Healthcare Officer, IBM: Electronic Heath Records and Interoperability

• Only four percent of US MD’s have a fully functional EMR
• 13% have some kind of basic system
• Only 1.5% of US hospitals have a comprehensive EMR
• Capital seems to be the most limiting factor
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) should help
• $21.6 billion in Medicaid incentives
• $2 going to improve health information exchange
• Must adopt standards to help information flow between various settings
• Working rapidly on meaningful use criteria