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Health Systems Strategies that Prioritize Children with Health Complexity

by: Colleen Reuland, Lydia Chiang, Breena Holmes, Elizabeth Baskett, Steven Kairys

Health complexity is a concept that considers both a child’s medical and social complexity. For health systems, identifying and supporting children with health complexity directly aligns with efforts to eliminate health disparities. This webinar described how health systems can identify children with health complexity and provided actionable strategies and models to use this information to improve services and supports for families. Presenters shared real world examples and recommendations based on technical assistance provided to State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies and health systems over the last five years. Additionally, a panel of health system leaders who have received technical assistance shared their reflections and learnings.

Attendees were asked to read the Health Systems Strategies to Ensure a Focus on Children with Health Complexity brief prior to the webinar.

Webinar Recording

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Speakers

Colleen Reuland, MS

Director, Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership (OPIP), Instructor in the Pediatrics Department at Oregon Health & Science University

Colleen Reuland works with health systems focused on improving care and health outcomes for children with health complexity. She has expertise in ensuring quality measurement and improvement activities are patient-centered and that methods are used to engage with parents and youth with lived experience. Ms. Reuland is the measure steward for the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Child Core set measure focused on developmental screening. Her work in Oregon includes co-developing the System-Level Social Emotional Health Metric, leading the development of the child health complexity data concept and supporting the operationalization of the data dissemination and use by health systems.

Lydia Chiang, MD

Medical Director, Oregon Pediatric Improvement Partnership (OPIP)

Dr. Lydia Chiang is a Pediatrician at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Doernbecher General Pediatrics. Dr. Chiang helps to lead technical assistance efforts for OPIP, with a focus on ensuring health systems support children with health complexity. She attended Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and received her pediatric training at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Chiang spent nine years practicing general pediatrics in New Jersey prior to joining OHSU in 2011. She loves working with children and enjoys the special relationships she is able to form with pediatric patients and their families. She finds it very rewarding to be the primary care physician for both healthy and health complex patients.

Breena Holmes, MD

Senior Faculty, Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP); Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

Elizabeth Baskett

Founder & Principal, Basket LLC (www.baskett.rocks)

Steven Kairys, MD

Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine; Principal Investigator of New Jersey Integrated Care for Kids (InCK)

Related Grants

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Oregon’s Approach to Leveraging System-level Data to Guide a Social Determinants of Health-informed Approach to Children’s Healthcare

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Maximizing System-Level Data to Address Health and Social Complexity in Children: Spotlight on Oregon

Maximizing System-Level Data to Address Health and Social Complexity in Children: Spotlight on Oregon

Event and Webinar Recaps |