Renee M. Turchi, MD, MPH, FAAP
Dr Turchi's statewide medical home implementation efforts have trained an entire generation of practices, providers and families—not just in principles of a medical home for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), but in a philosophy of ongoing measurement and quality improvement that fundamentally changes the standard of primary care for CYSHCN). This type of leadership and advocacy is a model with potentially broad implications for providers nationwide. In addition to her extensive work in research, policy, and advocacy, Dr Turchi is an exceptional and dedicated clinician for CYSHCN. This dedication to patient care is exemplified by her work to create a clinical program for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and their families at her home institution, St Christopher's Hospital for Children. Her approach to this program is revealing—while she does not seek to replace children's primary care providers, one of her motivations for creating this program was to provide a bridge between primary care providers and specialists, so that families are not left to navigate systems of care on their own after receiving a difficult diagnosis. As faculty at Drexel University School of Public Health and Drexel University College of Medicine, Dr Turchi's research, policy, and clinical work focus on CYSHCN. As a member of the Department of Community Health and Prevention at Drexel University School of Public Health she teaches and mentors medical, masters, and doctoral students. Dr Turchi is Medical Director of Special Programs at St Christopher's Hospital for Children, where she oversees grants and program development and practices including The Center for CYSHCN. Her research and clinical work around care coordination and CYSHCN have been presented and published in multiple national forums. She is also a member of the AAP Council on Children with Disabilities Executive Committee, the AAP Section on Young Physicians, and is chairperson of the Medical Home Resident Education Initiative Work Group of the National Center for Medical Home Implementation. Dr Turchi has been intimately involved in the Pennsylvania Medical Home Program (EPIC IC)—a statewide quality improvement program for pediatric practices—and currently serves as the director of this program. Through her work with the Pennsylvania Medical Home Team, they have established and cultivated an active and dedicated cadre of parent partners who participate in training practices and working with parents. Additionally, she has played an integral role in enrolling and training more than 100 primary care practices in medical home implementation projects. These practices encompass a range of practice types (ranging from private practices to community health centers to university-based teaching hospitals); practice settings (urban, suburban and rural) and providers (pediatricians, family practitioners and nurse practitioners). Through these implementation projects, Dr Turchi has been able to share practical tools—such as reports regarding content and quality of medical services delivery for a practice—that have enabled practices to negotiate with payers and advocate for increased reimbursement. The PA Medical Home Program is one of eight statewide programs at the PA Chapter-AAP office. The enthusiastic participation of the pediatricians and their teams across foster the success of these programs. See more information on the PA Medical Home Program After completing undergraduate work at Cornell University and medical school at Medical College of Pennsylvania, Dr Turchi completed residency and chief residency at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Subsequently, she attended the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Johns Hopkins University where she conferred her Masters in Public Health. --------