OSFMG Pediatrics

Emerging practice

OSFMG Pediatrics

Size

Medium (4-6 Physicians)

Geographic area

Suburban

Practice type

Hospital Affiliated Practice

Insurance status

• A little under half of patients have Medicaid/Care Management
• About half of patients have private insurance
• A small portion of patients were uninsured

Race/ethnicity of patients served

• American Indian or Alaska Native: 5%
• Asian: 15%
• Black or African-American: 20%
• Hispanic/Latinx: 25%
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 5%
• White: 30%

Practice Modification due to COVID-19 Pandemic

• Developed a new practice workflow which separated well child and sick visits into different times of the day, and different areas of the clinic, with separate entrances.
• Conducted vehicle check-ins to reduce in office waiting times and asked patients to wait in vehicles when waiting for test results and letters.
• Adopted two different telehealth platforms.
• Implemented a car/parking lot check-in process to avoid crowded waiting areas and minimize infection risk.
• Developed a process to triage patients over the phone and potentially see patients through telehealth visits if appropriate

Developmental Surveillance, Screening and Referral Modifications

• Attempted to mail developmental screenings such as Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) prior to the 9- and 18-month health supervision visits to reduce time in the office and encourage sign-up for patient portals.
• Physician conducted telephone/video visits with families/caregivers with developmental/behavioral/autism concerns prior to the office visit, to minimize time in office and ensure all developmental concerns were addressed. The ability to do this was due to video visits being coded the same as office visits during the pandemic.
• Restructured operations to increase standardized developmental testing, by adding an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (MCHAT) at 2-year visit
• Physician to attest the results of all developmental testing providing an opportunity to add a plan, and to ensure that no results are overlooked by the physician.