CME/CEU Let's Talk Webinar/Teleconferences

Join your colleagues on May 22 for Let's Talk: Infant Safe Sleep. Click here for the registration form. This will be a joint webinar/tele-conference event.

Save June 14 for the next Let's Talk: Providing Sound Beginnings by Recognizing Risk Factors of Late-Onset Hearing Loss. This will be a joint webinar/teleconference event. Click here for the registration form.

Past Events - Check out the Recordings!

Click here for the webinar from the April 11 Let's Talk: Graduated Driver License Law - Assessing Readiness to Drive with Richard Kirkpatrick and Dennis Durbin, MD, MSCE, FAAP.

Click here to play the webinar from the March 28 Let's Talk: Pulse Oximetry and Critical Congenital Heart Disease with W. Robert Morrow, MD, FAAP.

Fresh Rx: The Symposium

Fresh Rx: The Symposium (June 13 from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm), sponsored by the St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children, to be held at The Chemical Heritage Foundation, 315 Chestnut St., Phila 19106. The symposium will bring together national, regional and local thought leaders, policy change advocates, and practitioners working in the field to increase awareness of nutrition and its impact on health. Innovative responses, best practices and practical strategies will be highlighted. Faculty: David Ludwig, MD, PhD – Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health and Sandra Hassink, MD, FAAP - Director of the Nemours Pediatric Obesity Initiative at A.I. Dupont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE and AAP District III Chair.

Support for Children of Military Families

Diane Godorov, MD, FAAP (Reading) and Suzanne Yunghans (Chapter Executive Director) recently attended a Military Child Education Coalition Public Engagement seminar to learn about the needs of children of military families. Pennsylvania is the 3rd highest state in the country for the number of deployed military and National Guard. As a result, thousands of PA children are impacted.
Resources to clinicians are available at: American Academy of Pediatrics - Support for Military Children & Adolescents and the Military Children Education Coalition.

2012 PA Immunization Conference on July 12 in State College, PA

This conference will provide information on current immunization issues and trends as well as up-to-date recommendations on immunizations for children and adults. CME provided through Penn State Hershey. Cost is a nominal $30.00. Click here for more information and to register.

PA AAP Program on Oral Health

PA AAP launches new Healthy Teeth Healthy Children Program, funded by the DentaQuest Foundation. The three priority areas of the program include: medical/dental collaboration, strengthening the oral health care delivery system in Pennsylvania, and improving oral health literacy of families across the state. For more information, please contact C. Eve Kimball, MD, the PA Chapter Oral Health Champion, or Heather Stoddard, MPH, the program coordinator.

PA AAP Partners with Advocacy Organizations on PPACA Implementation

The PA Chapter, the PA Health Law Project, PA Partnerships for Children, Community Legal Services and Public Citizens for Children and Youth are working together to assure children's health care is an essential element in the PA Exchange Development under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Click here to read the "Principles for Children." This document has been shared with the PA Department of Insurance, the Governor's Office and other stakeholders.

PA AAP and Prevent Child Abuse PA team up for text4baby

Text4baby is a free text messaging service designed to promote maternal and child health. Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania, a program of the PA Chapter AAP, has received funding from Verizon Foundation to further promote text4baby at Pennsylvania pediatric practices. Text4baby sends text messages three times a week from time of sign-up during pregnancy through the child’s first birthday on many critical issues that reinforce AAP Bright Futures content. Let us know if you are promoting text4baby by completing a short 3-question survey.

At the end of the survey, PA pediatric practices can also order several different styles of free text4baby materials to give to patients.

Co-Pays for Medical Assistance Services for Children with Special Health Care Needs

The Chapter continues to partner with other advocates regarding DPW’s plans to impose co-pays on Medical Assistance services provided to children who have Medical Assistance due to a medical condition or disability and whose family income is at or above 2x the federal poverty level. The PA Health Law Project has received several inquiries as to what families can do now. The following is their suggestion:

What's most important is that families write to DPW urging them to allow deductions from family income for out of pocket medical costs & health insurance premiums. Out-of-pocket costs should be counted in determining family income for co-pay purposes, as many families have high out of pocket expenses for their child with disabilities.

Click here for more information on contacting DPW.