December 2014

We invite your practice to take advantage of the Utah Children’s Care Coordination Network, a source of information, resources, tools, expert advice, and peer learning and support for your staff members who help coordinate the care of your patients. We welcome staff from pediatric and family medicine practices to meet every third Wednesday of the month from 8:30-10:00 am in the new Eccles Outpatient Care Center at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Meetings will engage Network members in:

• Education about coordinating care for children, with an emphasis on those with chronic conditions and special health care needs
• Learning about local specialty and other service providers and other health-related resources for children and their families
• Sharing challenging cases, great ideas, unique resources, and lessons learned
• Using tools and techniques that will help your practice care for patients with special needs more efficiently and effectively, including new features that will soon be available on the Medical Home Portal
• Providing care coordination in a family- and patient-centered Medical Home approach

The Network will also offer its members an email listserv that can be used to seek answers to questions, share ideas, and find support in between meetings. There is no charge to participate. The first meeting will be held on January 28, 2015 at 8:30 am (an exception, meetings thereafter will be on the 3rd Wednesday of each month). Please let us know if you will be sending a staff member (or yourself) or if you have any questions. Contact Mindy Tueller at mindy.tueller@utah.edu or 801-213-3920 – she will send a map and agenda prior to the meeting.

In May 2014, in collaboration with the University of Utah Department of Psychology, the Utah Psychological Association (UPA), and the Utah Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Portal sent a survey to Utah mental health providers to identify those who provide services to children. Survey recipients were identified through the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL) or contacted by the UPA. 375 complete responses were received, and approximately 300 of those were new additions to the Portal’s database of local service providers. These providers’ records can now be found in the State Partner Projects section of the Portal’s Utah database under "Mental Health/Counseling."

The top priority of the Portal’s software engineers is the redesign of the site, with an updated look and feel, easier navigation, and an adaptive design so it fits on any screen at which you may be looking. Take the Portal with you wherever you go! (Here's a sneak peek: New Design)

By Al Romeo, RN, PhD

The Pregnancy Risk Line’s MotherToBaby Utah affiliate receives questions about medication use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, including SSRIs for treating maternal depression. Research shows untreated maternal depression generally poses a greater risk to the mother’s health and the health and development of the fetus and infant than does SSRI uptake. Sertraline and other SSRIs are not expected to increase the risk of structural birth defects during pregnancy. These medications do not appear to affect the child’s behavior or development. Primary care practices can contact teratogen counselors through the MotherToBaby website or by calling 866-626-6847, to receive accurate, up-to-date, and contextual information.