Adolescent and Child Health
In December, Rosa Kim, MD and Sara Herr of the Wisconsin Child Psychiatry Consultation Program (CPCP), joined the Adolescent and Child Health Improvement Team. Dr. Kim presented information on the program and the status of behavioral health services for children in the state of Wisconsin. The CPCP is designed to increase the capacity of primary care providers to support the behavioral health needs of Wisconsin children and their families. The CPCP offers education and training to PCPs, provides consultative support for screening, diagnosis, and management, and has a referral support network.
The CPCP was formed through a collaboration between the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Children’s Wisconsin in response to the shortage of psychiatric providers for children and teens throughout the state. Once enrolled in the CPCP, providers have access to consultations via phone and email. They can also access online and in-person trainings addressing topics ranging from screening and assessment to treatment and psychopharmacology for mental health and psychiatric disorders. For more information or learn about enrollment in the CPCP.
Behavioral Health
Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based practice that supports people, with mental illness and substance use disorders, by helping them find and keep meaningful jobs in the community. The program is based on the philosophy that work helps people be an integral part of their community while it improves self-esteem and satisfaction with life. IPS is a proven part of assisting people in recovery and is backed by rigorous research and evidence. During the December Behavioral Health meeting, Lalena Lampe and Stacey Teegardin, IPS state trainers from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services/ UW Department of Psychiatry, presented on IPS and shared that people who have access to IPS services are two to three times more likely to obtain and keep a job.
IPS provides unique benefits to both employers and people looking for work. Participating employers are viewed as partners who share a goal of giving back to their communities as well as gaining qualified and motivated staff. Job seekers are given a new opportunity after overcoming adversity in their lives. When people help people, everyone benefits.
The principals of IPS are competitive employment, integrated services, zero exclusion, worker preferences, benefits counseling, rapid job search, systematic job development, and time-unlimited support.
IPS is currently available in 21 Wisconsin counties [https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/ips/sites.htm].
If you would like more information on IPS please send an email request to DHSDCTSIPS@dhs.wisconsin.gov.
Chronic Disease
Managing chronic disease is one of WCHQ’s improvement priorities. The WCHQ Chronic Disease Learning Collaborative staff found a new report from the U.S. Surgeon General could be a useful resource for clinicians who are treating patients with hypertension.
The report, “A Call to Action to Control Hypertension,” identifies evidence-based interventions that can be implemented, adapted and expanded in diverse settings. The recommendations include the following:
- Implement protocols to standardize patient care. Treatment protocols can help identify patients eligible for clinical management, reduce variations in care, prompt medication initiation and intensification, standardize timely patient follow-up, and reinforce lifestyle counseling and referrals. They can also empower all members of the clinical team to engage in patient management.
- Refer all patients with high blood pressure to lifestyle change resources to help them control their blood pressure and improve their overall cardiovascular health. Examples include dietitians, exercise physiologists and specialists, community-based programs and resources, and the National Diabetes Prevention Program. Ensure follow-up with patients after referrals.
- When possible, prescribe in a way that lowers patient costs, reduces barriers to getting medications, and simplifies regimens to improve adherence. Examples include selecting generic drugs covered by the patient’s insurance, longer-duration prescriptions (90 vs. 30 days), fixed-dose combination pills, and lower dosing frequency (once per day).
- Prescribe medications electronically and synchronize medication regimens to reduce the chance that patients will lose or not fill their prescriptions.
- Use self-measured blood pressure monitoring with clinical support for patients with high blood pressure.
- Use data from clinician dashboards and patient registries to highlight gaps in care so they can be addressed through quality improvement efforts.
- Encourage the use of multidisciplinary care teams to help patients manage their blood pressure. Support shared decision-making and effective communication between teams and patients.
For more information on these actions and to review additional resources, visit this one-pager for health care professionals.
If you are interested in joining the Chronic Disease Learning Collaborative, contact Sarah Sky.
Oral Health
The WCHQ Oral Health Collaborative (OHC) continues to receive inquiries related to the publication of the first oral health measures on the WCHQ website. WCHQ fielded inquiries from dental practices and local and national health care organizations that are interested in the collaborative development of oral health measures and improvement.
A recent article by OHC member HealthPartners was published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry that addresses their mission to provide value-based care that aligns with the triple-aim; improving the health of a population while providing great service and doing so at a lower overall cost.1 The authors discuss the importance of integration of the medical and dental record, risk assessment tools and quality measurement as keys to achieving the triple-aim and value-based care.
The OHC will hold a Summit in 2021 that focuses on the oral-systemic link, the development of relevant new metrics and the identification of opportunities for improvement. The group will continue to share and discuss new processes that were developed in response to the pandemic.
For information or to get involved with oral health measurement, contact Jen Koberstein.
1Berwick DM, Nolan TW, Whittington J. The Triple Aim; care, health, and cost. Health AFf. 2008;27(3):759-69
