Impact on Dental Utilization of the Integration of Oral Health in Pediatric Primary Care Through Quality Improvement.

Objectives: To evaluate child-level dental utilization and expenditure outcomes based on if and where children received fluoride varnish (FV) at quality improvement (QI) medical practices, at non-QI medical practices, at dental practices, or those who never received FV from any practice.

Design: Retrospective claims-based analysis cohort study.

Setting: Children with Medicaid insurance through an Ohio pediatric accountable care organization.

Practice Facilitation Improves Adolescent Reproductive Health Preventive Services in Primary Care.

Objectives: Provision of reproductive health preventive services to adolescents is critical given their high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. Pediatricians are well positioned to provide these services but often face barriers. With this project, we aimed to build quality improvement (QI) capacity within pediatric practices to improve adherence to national guidelines for adolescent reproductive health preventive services.

Promoting Pediatric Preventive Visits Through Quality Improvement Initiatives in the Primary Care Setting.

Objective: To evaluate whether quality improvement (QI) capacity-building in affiliated primary care practices could increase well care visit uptake.

Study Design: Partners For Kids (PFK) is an accountable care organization caring for pediatric Medicaid beneficiaries in Ohio. PFK QI specialists recruited practices to develop QI projects around increasing well care visit rates (proportion of eligible children with well care visits during calendar year) for children aged 3-6 years and adolescents.

Using Practice Facilitation to Improve Depression Management in Rural Pediatric Primary Care Practices.

Introduction: Depression is a common and serious mental health condition frequently encountered in pediatric primary care. Pediatricians report discomfort in managing depression due in part to limited training and limited access to mental health care, which is accentuated in rural areas.

Methods: We developed an evidence-based, quality improvement project designed to help pediatricians increase screening and initial management of depression in the primary care setting.

Improving Pediatrician's Behavioral Health Competencies Through the Project ECHO Teleconsultation Model.

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a teleconsultation model for enhancing the treatment of underserved patients in primary care. Previous behavioral health (BH) adaptations of Project ECHO have primarily focused on adults or specific diagnoses and have relied on self-reported outcomes. The purpose of this pilot was to adapt Project ECHO to support pediatric primary care providers in addressing common BH needs and to conduct an initial evaluation of its effectiveness.