Overview
Early detection of developmental delays and social/emotional problems, as well as managing chronic conditions (asthma, diabetes, obesity, etc), are just a few areas where Patient Tools helps Pediatricians.  In pre-visit Electronic Interviews (parents, teachers, older children, etc), trigger logic combines simple intake, screening and in-depth assessment, allowing Pediatricians to gather and respond to a range of information that they ordinarily do not have the time to address. This proactive, more efficient use of the Pediatrician's time, leads to healthier children, reduced costs and better access.

Screening & In-depth Assessment
The best format for the Electronic Interview is to perform a general screening first and then do in-depth assessment as indicated.  For example, the Ages & Stages Questionnaires^® (ASQ) and/or the Ages & Stages Questionnaires^® : Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) for children 0-5 yrs, or the Pediatric Symptoms Checklist (PSC) for school age children, are excellent general screening tools.  When areas of concern are uncovered, in-depth assessments such as the M-CHAT for autism or Vanderbilt for ADHD are available to look further into the details. The depth of screening and assessment that is available is extensive and should be standard practice for all Pediatricians.

Well Child Visits
The easiest time to collect screening & assessment information, potentially organized around registries and programs, is during the Well Child Visit.  Further, the Well Child Visit schedule works as a protocol where each visit age is a protocol phase, creating the framework for population management and program performance measurement. Valuable insight is gained from this aggregate information.  Aggregate initial visit information characterizes the patient population. Comparison of aggregate age-specific information measures performance and progress toward program goals.

In the Office or Online from home
Parents are becoming quite adept at using the Internet to complete tasks online when their schedule permits.  Additionally, many screening tools are based on observation of behaviors where the Parent may have to work with the child to evaluate the level of development.  Time is always an issue and children have bad days, so completing assessments in the office may be difficult. Giving the Parent/Guardian the opportunity to complete the Electronic Interview from home is an important option.

A Solution at Multiple Levels

Clinical View - Interview parents/teachers electronically before visits, enabling trended individual data; computed, summarized and reported to the Pediatrician to use during the visit.  Parents/teachers are utilized as a resource for data entry and the system reports the results with effectively no additional burden on staff. Some key assessment examples are ASQ, ASQ:SE, PSC, M-CHAT and Vanderbilt

Program View - Population Management using aggregate patient data, organized into registries and protocols.  Developmental & Social-Emotional Screening, Child Safety and Chronic Condition Management are excellent programs that your practice can initiate with little overhead since they can be seamlessly integrated into the pre-visit Electronic Interview.

System View - Quality Management & Satisfaction using aggregate feedback data and performance metrics can be included in a post-visit Electronic Interview and used to drive quality and process improvement.

Please Contact Us to learn more or discuss how Patient Tools might work in your setting.

Ages & Stages Questionnaires^® and Ages & Stages Questionnaires^®: Social-Emotional are registered trademarks of Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.