PCMH-Kids Annual Learning Collaborative

On March 28, 2018, PCMH Kids practices participated in a Behavioral Health Learning Collaborative at the RI Shriners Imperial Room in Cranston. This learning collaborative would not have been possible without the support and funding from Tufts Health Plan and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Patricia Flanagan, MD, FAAP, Hasbro Pediatric Primary Care Clinic and PCMH-Kids Co-Chair, kicked off the event and introduced Claire Levesque, MD, Tufts Health Plan, Chief Medical Officer, Commercial Products, who spoke about the value of having the PCMH Kids practices focus on important pediatric behavioral health needs and the improvement that occurs through the collaborative experience. 

The first half of the morning included a presentation by Margaret Howard, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Medicine on the Lessons Learned from the PCMH Kids Maternal Depression program. All seven practices demonstrated improved screening for maternal depression.  She noted the important culture changes that occurred in the practices and applauded their efforts. The seven practices that participated in the Maternal Depression Learning Collaborative wrapped up the program by giving an overview of their project outcomes and providing feedback through their story board presentations.

The second-half of the morning featured a joint presentation on “Pediatric Screen Brief Intervention Refer to Treatment (SBIRT)” by Thomas Chun, MD, MPH, Associate Professor at the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, Alpert Medical School of Brown University and attending Physician at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Emergency Department and Pamela Watson, LICSW, Assistant Professor at the Bachelor of Social Work Program, Rhode Island College and therapist for a private practice in North Kingstown, RI. The presentation discussed the importance of screening for substance use in adolescents and introduced motivational interviewing as a method for effectively engaging adolescents.

The 10 practices enrolled in the yearlong SBIRT Learning Collaborative were given time to work with their team members to define an AIM statement for the SBIRT quality improvement project. After the collaborative, the pediatric practices will be expected to implement a continuous quality improvement project. Participating practices will receive stipends for learning collaborative participation, additional facilitation hours to help them implement and present project results and participate in quarterly learning network meetings.

The Pediatric SBIRT presentation can be found here.