10 Years Later : The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Prevention and Public Health in North Carolina.

The passage of the Affordable Care Act had a great impact on the landscape of public health programming and clinical preventive care in North Carolina. Large funding measures have supported community-based prevention efforts and led to policy, systems, and environmental changes to support a healthier population.

A Quality Improvement Intervention Bundle to Reduce 30-Day Pediatric Readmissions.

Introduction: Pediatric hospital readmissions can represent gaps in care quality between discharge and follow-up, including social factors not typically addressed by hospitals. This study aimed to reduce the 30-day pediatric readmission rate on 2 general pediatric services through an intervention to enhance care spanning the hospital stay, discharge, and follow-up process.

Methods: A multidisciplinary team developed an intervention bundle based on a needs assessment and evidence-based models of transitional care.

The State of North Carolina's Perinatal Health.

In working to improve the health of North Carolinians, a critical focus starts with our mothers and infants and their surrounding communities. North Carolina's perinatal outcomes, as evidenced by maternal morbidity and mortality, infant mortality, preterm births, and the larger context of lifelong physical and mental health of our citizens, offer areas for improvement and policy implications. In addition, the unacceptable disparities that remain despite some overall improvement in outcomes warrant full attention.

Redefining the Team in Team-Based Care: Role of Public Health.

In North Carolina, our public health infrastructure consists of a state health department and 85 local health departments representing all 100 counties. The state health department, local health departments, health systems, and clinical providers work literally and figuratively as a team to improve the health of our citizens. In this article, we provide examples of the critical role of public health practitioners as part of the broader team addressing health, specifically in the areas of chronic disease, communicable disease, oral health, environmental health, and maternal and child health.

Responding to Adverse Childhood Experiences: It Takes a Village.

In working to improve the health of North Carolinians, a broader emphasis has been placed on determinants of health, or non-medical drivers of health. Critical examples of health determinants are adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, that affect early brain development and lifelong health and function. Multiple organizations and communities have come together to acknowledge the importance of prevention, address toxic stress and trauma in childhood, promote resiliency and trauma-informed care, and invest in the future of North Carolina through its children.

Discharge Interventions and Modifiable Risk Factors for Preventing Hospital Readmissions in Children with Medical Complexity.

Background: Concerns about the costs and quality of hospital care have led to increased interest in hospital readmissions in children. Children with medical complexity account for high proportions of inpatient utilization and have a higher risk of hospital readmission.

Objective: To identify studies of discharge interventions to prevent hospital readmissions in children with medical complexity.

Performance of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers in Spanish-speaking patients.

Objective: To compare abnormal screening rates of 2 different Spanish versions of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) in US Spanish-speaking patients.

Method: Quasi-experimental design was used with historical and English language controls. Abnormal screening rates were compared between Spain and Western-hemisphere Spanish versions, as well as to English controls during the same time periods using chi square analysis.