Pediatric Complex Care Seminar Session 7: Polypharmacy

Sarah is a mother to a child with multiple, severe disabilities, and this has permanently changed the lens in which she sees the world. It has also influenced the professional roles she holds. Sarah directs four Institutional Care Facilities, supporting 24 adults with severe disabilities. She also serves as a family consultant for Family Voices of North Dakota and Experienced Parent for Early Intervention/Infant Development services for children and families. Sarah has served as Chair for North Dakota's Interagency Coordinating Councils for multiple terms and holds other leadership roles in her community, state, and on a national level. Sarah navigates the complex world of rural healthcare and services for her own family, and many other families in Western North Dakota.  

Kasey is a wife, mother, and caregiver who also has become a trusted advocate and community leader. Kasey is the Project Director for the Parent as Champions Project at SPAN Advocacy and holds a degree in Marketing and Advertising. Kasey is a trained professional in Support Coordination for the New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities. She is also a licensed Clinical Massage Therapist who specialized in infant massage and sensory integration for children and adolescents on the Autism Spectrum. Kasey has demonstrated steady leadership in serving families in underserved communities and children with disabilities. Her son was one of the first children to be exclusively breastfed in the NICU as a result of her advocacy.

Dr. James Feinstein practices as an Attending Primary Care Physician in the Children’s Hospital Colorado Special Care Clinic, a medical home for  more than 5,600 children with special healthcare needs, and is a Pediatric Director of a nationally recognized Epidermolysis Bullosa Multidisciplinary Program for children with genetic skin blistering disorders. As a fellowship-trained health services researcher with over 15 years of experience, Dr. Feinstein has led multiple epidemiological and health services research studies focused on children with medical complexity, neurologic impairment, and pediatric polypharmacy. His long-term research goal is to improve medication safety and health outcomes for children with medical complexity, with a focus on implementing and evaluating patient-centric strategies to optimize the management of pediatric polypharmacy.

Luke Orth is an assistant professor of pediatric pharmacy at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy in Denver, CO. In addition to his pediatric teaching roles within the pharmacy curriculum, he practices as an embedded pharmacist within the Special Care Clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado. Within this role, he works collaboratively with providers and multidisciplinary staff to provide pharmacotherapy recommendations, patient/caregiver education, and other medication-related assistance to patients and their families. His current clinical research focuses on medication therapy management, polypharmacy, and expansion of pharmacy services to children with medical complexity.