U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Approach to Child Cognitive and Behavioral Health.

An important component of routine preventive care for children is the monitoring of growth and development. Although cognitive, affective, and behavioral health problems are commonly encountered in pediatric primary care, there is debate around issues related to early detection of significant problems of this type, including the accuracy of screening and the benefits and harms of early diagnosis and treatment. The U.

Lessons Learned From Newborn Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects.

Newborn screening for critical congenital heart defects (CCHD) was added to the US Recommended Uniform Screening Panel in 2011. Within 4 years, 46 states and the District of Columbia had adopted it into their newborn screening program, leading to CCHD screening being nearly universal in the United States. This rapid adoption occurred while there were still questions about the effectiveness of the recommended screening protocol and barriers to follow-up for infants with a positive screen.

Implementing Guidelines One Patient at a Time.

Clinical practice guidelines are an important component of health care delivery. Although guidelines can be viewed negatively, as "cookbook medicine," many guidelines have improved care delivery. Work is needed to refine guidelines in real-world settings and to assure that they are patient-centered.

Adverse events associated with meropenem versus imipenem/cilastatin therapy in a large retrospective cohort of hospitalized infants.

Background: Carbapenems are commonly used in hospitalized infants despite a lack of complete safety data and associations with seizures in older children. We compared the incidence of adverse events in hospitalized infants receiving meropenem versus imipenem/cilastatin.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 5566 infants treated with meropenem or imipenem/cilastatin in neonatal intensive care units managed by the Pediatrix Medical Group between 1997 and 2010.

Strategies for implementing screening for critical congenital heart disease.

Background: Although newborn screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) was recommended by the US Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children to promote early detection, it was deemed by the Secretary of the HHS as not ready for adoption pending an implementation plan from HHS agencies.

Objective: To develop strategies for the implementation of safe, effective, and efficient screening.

Methods: A work group was convened with members selected by the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology Foundation, and the American Heart Association.

Improving the rate of preschool vision screening: an interrupted time-series analysis.

Objective: To implement a 6-month quality improvement project in 13 clinics in North Carolina to improve vision screening rates for children 3 through 5 years of age.

Methods: We trained each clinic in approaches to vision screening and selected champions to provide feedback based on a 3-month baseline chart audit of up to 90 charts in each clinic and then 60 monthly chart audits in each clinic.

Results: Overall, the baseline rate of distance vision testing (92%) and stereopsis testing (80%) was high.

Outcomes of an elementary school-based vision screening program in North Carolina.

School nurses can play a key role in the detection of significant refractive error. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a statewide school nurse vision screening program by evaluating the outcomes of screening among first, third, and fifth graders in 10 schools in North Carolina during the 2009-2010 school year. Of the 2,726 children who were screened, 7.