Hosted Peds Day at the Capitol, with more than 100 pediatricians and pediatric residents who met with legislators to discuss child health issues.
Defeated effort to create law limiting minor consent.
Advocated for Safe Routes to School, now an established program signed into law.
Provided testimony and member education on the importance of preserving the integrity of newborn screening.
Sent letter to Commissioner of Health and continued opposition about recent policy change that would restrict all private clinics from providing MN VFC vaccines to underinsured children.
Advocated for the addition of several vaccines to Minnesota sports physical forms that have since been added.
Provided testimony/comments on Minnesota Health Reform and Public Health.
Member and Community Education
Held immunization hesitancy and obesity prevention conference with more than 125 attendees.
Hosted a series of CME webinars on pediatric obesity with a total of 50 plus attendees and collected a list of helpful obesity tools and resources.
Selected by NICHQ (National Institute for Children’s Healthcare Quality) to lead a multi-sector team to reduce overweight/obesity rates among Latino children ages 2-11 and their families in Minneapolis (Julie Boman, MD).
Received a grant from AAP to partner with the pediatric residency programs at the University of Minnesota and Mayo to increase physical activity in low-income child care centers (Emily Borman-Shoap, MD; Brian Lynch, MD).
Supported the development of Somali parent education videos on early brain development, child safety, infant feeding and safe sleeping, newborn screening, use of car seats, television and children, use of the thermometer with funds from AAP.
Assisted members with development of grant proposals to implement pediatric priorities in their communities, including early hearing loss education (Lisa Schimmenti, MD), oral health screening (Eileen Crespo, MD) and medical homes for foster children (Amelia Burgess, MD), adolescent immunization projects (Dawn Martin, MD, Julia Joseph-DiCaprio, MD), transitions in care for teens to adult care (Peter Scal, MD, Brad Benson, MD), pediatric technology projects (Children’s Hospitals and Clinic of MN).
Hosted Peds Day at the Park for rural pediatricians, members, and pediatric residents to hear about chapter activities and opportunities for rural practice at an August 2011 Minnesota Twins game.
Chapter Leadership
Increased chapter membership from 887 to 959 pediatricians and pediatric residents.
Developed and received/seeking American Board of Pediatrics approval for three pediatric Maintenance of Certification-part 4 (MOC 4) quality improvement programs on obesity, immunizations, and medical homes/health care homes.
Partnerships to promote child/teen health
Co-hosted May 24 rural health meeting with Children’s Hospital to reach/engage rural pediatricians.
Partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health to promote Infant Immunization Week through letters to the editor from pediatricians around the state.
Began meeting with Minnesota Council of Health Plans to address obesity referral/reimbursement issues.
Working with parents and/or community health workers, identified health care issues and access barriers surrounding new immigrants in Minneapolis, Rochester, St. Cloud and Brooklyn Center.
With Wellshare International and CentraCare Foundation, piloting the use of community health workers in four Minnesota clinics to better serve Somali and Liberian immigrant populations (Anne Edwards, MD; Emily Borman-Shoap, MD; Amelia Burgess, MD; Marilyn Peitso, MD).
In partnership with MN Department of Human Services, piloting ASQ screening of Somali children through oral translation and a Somali education video.
Partnered with MN Department of Human Services and CDC on grant proposal to pilot a text4kids technology in Minnesota.
Worked with Minnesota agencies (MDH, DHS, MN Community Measures, ICSI) on quality measures and potential payment restructuring on key pediatric issues, including preventative care and asthma.
Partnered with Minnesota Department of Human Services and Family Voices-Minnesota on a project to develop quality indicators for a Center of Excellence for Children with chronic health conditions.
Continued discussions and member webinars with the Departments of Health and Human Services and Medicaid-managed care plans to explore interest in a universal vaccine purchase and group vaccine purchasing options.
Partnered with the Minnesota chapter of the American College of Physicians, and the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians to support a grant to AHQR on disseminating research on Patient-Centered Outcomes to Primary Care physicians.
Past Years
