260972 Promoting Bright Futures as a standard of care: Illinois' model for integrating comprehensive well-child services into Medicaid and children's health insurance program policy

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Rachel Sacks, MPH , Early Childhood Development Initiatives, Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics, Chicago, IL
     
Background: Under the Affordable Care Act, health plans will soon be required to cover at no cost-sharing those preventive health services for children which are recommended by Bright Futures. Bright Futures is a national health promotion and disease prevention initiative developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration with the American Academy of Pediatrics which recommends a comprehensive set of wellness and preventive health services for children from birth through age 21. Illinois is now implementing Bright Futures principles, guidelines, and tools to strengthen state programs. Project: The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) sought to promote the Bright Futures well-child recommendations as a standard of care for providers serving Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) clients in the state of Illinois. Together with HFS and the current HFS primary care case management program Illinois Health Connect (IHC), the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP) is integrating Bright Futures guidelines into the state's medical provider handbook. To support this effort, ICAAP is also developing other materials to clarify guidelines to enrolled pediatricians and family physicians, and promoting Bright Futures to providers and patients alike through innovative outreach. Lessons learned: Through working with a collaborative advisory committee representing practice settings as varied as private practices, school health centers, federally qualified health centers, academic residency programs, and community agencies, ICAAP has been able to identify challenges in Bright Futures implementation that are both common to and vary across these practice settings. Technical assistance and coaching are both needed to address Bright Futures implementation strategies at the practice level. In addition further infrastructure changes and policy work at the state level can enhance the success of this integration effort.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the benefits for states incorporating the Bright Futures guidelines into Medicaid and CHIP in the era of health reform. 2. Describe the collaborative process employed to promote Bright Futures as a standard of care for enrolled providers in Illinois and to integrate Bright Futures guidelines and tools into the Illinois medical provider handbook. 3. Formulate possible next steps to address practice- and systems-level needs.

Keywords: Medicaid, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As Manager for Early Childhood Development at ICAAP, one of my primary responsibilities is the effort to incorporate the national health promotion initiative Bright Futures and its guidelines into Illinois Medicaid and CHIP program policy. I serve as the liaison between the national AAP, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, and a collaborative advisory committee of pediatric providers and stakeholders in order to formulate practice- and systems-level improvements.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3155.1: Medicare and Medicaid in States' Experiences