Developmental Surveillance and Screening Resources for Pediatricians

The AAP offers  educational tools and resources to assist with developmental surveillance and screening. Resources include Bright Futures guidelines, brief videos, free webinars, free CME/MOC courses, free developmental surveillance training for practices, quality improvement toolkit for implementing developmental screening, screening tool finder, and a screening and testing coding fact sheet.

AAP Chapter Resource Guide: Support for Pediatric Clinicians Conducting Developmental Surveillance, Screening, Referral, and Follow-up
The chapter resource guide, based on feedback received from chapters focused on early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, covers the following topics:  assess community assets, discover potential community partners, collaborate with your state’s CDC Act Early Ambassador, and find resources to facilitate developmental surveillance and screening. Read, link, and share this resource today!

Educate, Ask, and Share: Collaborating with Early Childhood Professionals on Development – Brief Video
Like families/caregivers, early childhood professionals have valuable information about a child’s development. Their ongoing training, experience, and frequent observations of children’s development, along with the developmental surveillance and screening they may perform within their programs, can help pediatricians identify children at risk. Bidirectional communication between early childhood professionals, pediatricians, and the medical home team can support a comprehensive system of care for children and families/caregivers. This video demonstrates the collaboration between families/caregivers, early childhood professionals, and the medical home.

Tips and Resources to Support Developmental Surveillance: Recorded Coffee Talk
In this 1-hour recording, hosts Lisa Shulman, MD, FAAP and Sara Del Campo Gonzalez, MD, FAAP, highlight how to use and implement Learn the Signs. Act Early. communication tools with case studies and discussion. Listen to this brief event to hear tips and resources to support developmental surveillance in your practice.

Pediatrician Strengths and Risk Resource Guide
The AAP offers a FREE resource guide for pediatricians that highlights the developmental surveillance component of identifying strengths, risks, and protective factors. In the 2016 the National Survey of Children’s Health, only 30% of families/caregivers with children under 5 years report being asked by a health care provider if they had any concerns about their child’s learning, development, or behavior. This additional resource will help pediatricians recognize the value of established patient relationships before, during and after the development process.

Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 4th Edition
The AAP Bright Futures national health promotion and prevention initiative is supported, in part, by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition provides theory-based and evidence-driven guidance for all preventive care screenings and well-child visits. Pediatric primary care professionals and practices looking to incorporate resources and guidance for infants, children, and adolescents should visit the Bright Futures website.

Bright Futures Tool & Resource Kit, 2nd Edition
This Toolkit is designed to accompany and support implementation of the Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition into clinical practice. The Toolkit provides an organized and integrated compilation of current forms, handouts, and resources that relate to preventive health supervision (including developmental surveillance) and health screening for infants, children, and adolescents.

About Bright Futures – Brief Video
In this brief animated video, learn information to get started using the Bright Futures recommendations in health promotion and disease prevention practices and with programs and families in the community. (Duration: 2 minutes)

Developmental Surveillance: What, Why, and How – Brief Video
In this brief video from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Shelly Flais, MD, FAAP discusses developmental surveillance recommendations, tips, and resources available to pediatricians, clinicians, and families. (Duration: 6 minutes)

Developmental Surveillance: Understanding and Incorporating into Practice – Brief Webinar
In this brief pre-recorded webinar, Toni Whitaker, MD FAAP and Jennifer Zubler, MD FAAP, highlight the importance of developmental surveillance and screening for children and strategies to incorporate developmental surveillance into practice using case studies and important updates from the recently published AAP clinical report, Promoting Optimal Development: Identifying Infants and Young Children with Developmental Disorders Through Developmental Surveillance and Screening. Clinician and family-centered developmental surveillance resources, including educational resources, are also discussed. (Duration: 25 minutes)

Innovative Strategies for Improving Developmental Surveillance and Screening – PediaLink Course
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, among many things, the need to ensure that essential services are available and remain available for all children. These services include the identification of children at risk for developmental delays and disabilities as well as appropriate early intervention evaluations and services. Content from this course shares findings and tips from key informant interviews with general pediatricians, which were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course will allow pediatric clinicians to learn new and innovative strategies for improving developmental surveillance, screening, referral, and follow-up within their current models of care to ensure that children are receiving these essential services. This course provides information on “how” to approach improving your practice’s early identification process. It complements the PediaLink course Milestones Matter: Don’t Underestimate Developmental Surveillance, which helps pediatricians/pediatric providers recognize the components of developmental surveillance as well as how surveillance and screening work together for early identification of developmental delays and disabilities.

Repository of Practices Describing Innovations in Developmental Surveillance and Screening
The emerging practice repository, on the AAP Critical Updates to COVID-19 webpage, details results from recently conducted interviews with pediatric practices to identify challenges and successes to conducting developmental surveillance, screening, referral and follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. The repository includes an overview of practice locations, characteristics, demographics, and key innovations. This repository can be used to spark ideas and incorporate new strategies into pediatric practices. The repository compliments both the new PediaLink course: Innovative Strategies for Improving Developmental Surveillance and Screening, and the emerging practice pearls.

Practice Pearls: Innovations in Developmental Surveillance and Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The emerging practice pearls were developed from recently conducted emerging practices interviews to highlight innovative strategies for incorporating developmental surveillance, developmental screening, referral, and follow-up in light of a public health emergency, such as COVID-19. The pearls highlight lessons learned and detail innovative strategies to incorporate into pediatric practices. The pearls compliment the emerging practice repository and PediaLink course: Innovative Strategies for Improving Developmental Surveillance and Screening.

Milestone Matter: Don’t Underestimate Developmental Surveillance – PediaLink Course
The main goals of this course are to help pediatricians recognize the value of early identification and intervention when developmental delays are suspected and to identify the key surveillance and screening steps they should incorporate into their practice. Users completing course requirements eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part 2 points. Available 01/07/2020 – 1/06/2024

Identifying and Caring for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Course for Pediatric Clinicians – PediaLink Course
This course educates pediatric clinicians about evidence-based practices in caring for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Learners may complete all units or select specific units they would like to complete based on their needs, capacity, and professional interests. Units within the course are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part 2 points. Available 02/04/2020 – 04/19/2024

Facilitated Mini Training 
Identify and discuss developmental surveillance best practices in your office setting with this free training, developed with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This training is intended to be facilitated by members of the practice team to encourage discussion in a short, 15-20 minute presentation. The training consists of presenter slides, facilitator speakers notes, and a case study. Material can be presented anywhere from staff meetings to professional development opportunities.

The format for the training was inspired by the Spark trainings developed by the Adolescent Health Initiative at the University of Michigan. Their trainings can be found here.

Comprehensive Quality Improvement Toolkit
Toolkit including resources from the Don't Just Wait and See project, designed to guide AAP chapters, organizations, or individual practices in implementing their own quality improvement initiative to improve rates of developmental screening.

STAR Center
The goal of the Screening Technical Assistance and Resource (STAR) Center is to provide up to date information, including live technical assistance, educational opportunities, and clinical practice tools to improve the health, wellness, and development of children through practice and system-based interventions to increase rates of early childhood screening, counseling, referral and follow up as it relates to developmental disorders. Visitors will also find information related to perinatal depression and social determinants of health.

Screening Tool Finder
Sort, filter, and find information related to validated screening tools. Please note, the AAP does not approve nor endorse any specific tool for screening purposes. This table is not exhaustive, and other screening tools may be available. Tools listed in the table are for children aged 0-5 years.

CME/MOC Course
Learn more about early childhood screening and integrating a workflow in your practice with this free CME/MOC Part 2 eligible training.

Early Intervention Referral and Feedback Form Template
This template can be used to  assist pediatric health care providers in establishing a feedback loop with Early Intervention.

Screening and Testing Coding Fact Sheet  
Developmental screening is conducted using age appropriate instruments, which vary in length. This coding fact sheet provides guidance on how pediatricians can appropriately report those instruments which are standardized developmental screening and testing services. Surveillance and non-standardized instruments are not separately reported from the evaluation and management service (eg, preventive medicine service).