COVID-19 Testing Update as of Jan. 6, 2021
Patients tested to date: 21,461. Positive: 536 (2.4%). Six patients are in the hospital; others are recovering at home.
Breaking the Status Quo in Pediatric Disease Research
Seattle Children’s is excited to announce the launch of a novel nonprofit research group that will accelerate the development of new medicines for childhood cancer and other debilitating pediatric diseases.
The new enterprise, Seattle Children’s Therapeutics, reimagines what a pediatric research organization should look like. It is intentionally structured like a biotech company rather than a typical academic research group. The people and functions needed to bring new medicines from bench to bedside — research scientists in the lab, clinical trials management teams, regulatory compliance specialists, business managers and a state-of-the-art on-site facility for manufacturing cellular and genetic therapeutics — have been brought together under one roof, under one management and leadership team.
Seattle Children’s Therapeutics includes a team of 130 led by Dr. Michael Jensen, Seattle Children’s chief therapeutics officer. A renowned pediatric cancer researcher and former founding scientist at Juno Therapeutics, Jensen says Seattle Children’s is “breaking the status quo” of pediatric disease research. Read full post »
North Clinic in Everett Now Offers Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Outpatient psychiatry services are now available at Seattle Children’s North Clinic in Everett. Providers at the North Clinic are offering:
- Diagnostic evaluations for depression, anxiety and early childhood disorders
- Stepped-care treatment for anxiety and externalizing behaviors (focusing on groups with some individual/family therapy)
- Parent management training
- Individual therapy for depressive disorders (very limited; by internal referral only)
- Treatment of young children focusing on parent management training
COVID-19: Updates on Patient Caregiver Policies in the Hospital, Preprocedure Testing and Accepting Young Adult Transfers From Other Hospitals
Patient Caregiver Policies in the Hospital
Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in our region and nationally, Seattle Children’s is returning to stricter guidelines regarding visitors in order to protect the health and safety of our patients, families and workforce.
Patients in both our inpatient and ambulatory settings will only be allowed a single caregiver effective Monday, Nov. 30.
Inpatient care visitor policy update:
- All families may identify two caregivers for their child’s inpatient stay.
- Only one caregiver may be at the bedside at a time.
- The two caregivers will remain the primary caregivers for the entirety of the hospitalization.
- The following exceptions will continue to apply:
- Caregivers of patients at the end of life may request an exception
- Patients whose caregivers are receiving discharge teaching
- Siblings who are younger than 12 months of age and who are breastfeeding may remain in a room with the breastfeeding parent if the patient is in standard precautions
Seattle Children’s Is Providing Flu Vaccines to Patients
Seattle Children’s is providing influenza vaccinations to inpatients and outpatients during their scheduled visits. Seattle Children’s is also offering the vaccination to Emergency Department and Urgent Care patients. All vaccinations given to patients are documented in the Child Profile Immunization Registry. Patients are screened for eligibility.
We are also offering flu shot vouchers to patients’ family members and household contacts age 3 and older during patient visits and stays. The vouchers can be used at any Bartell Drugs with no out-of-pocket cost (Bartell will bill family members’ insurance, if available, and charge any remaining balance to Seattle Children’s). Family members and household contacts 6 months to 35 months old will need to get their flu vaccine at their primary care provider’s office. Read full post »
Update on COVID-19 Testing at Seattle Children’s
As of Nov. 3, Seattle Children’s had tested 16,034 children. 250 were positive, for a positivity rate of 1.6%; most had symptoms but 39% were asymptomatic.
Testing sites and capacity: We offer testing for children and teens through age 17 at our four Urgent Care Clinics and at the Sand Point Learning Center drive-through near the hospital. We consistently have availability at all locations; our best capacity is usually at the Sand Point Learning Center and Seattle Urgent Care. Federal Way Urgent Care tends to fill up fastest.
Results: We have extended our COVID-19 test result window to 24 to 48 hours instead of one day due to higher demand. If you do not receive your patient’s results within the time expected, please call our clinical lab for assistance at 206-987-2102.
No walk-up COVID-19 testing: Referrals are required for COVID-19 testing at all Seattle Children’s testing sites; appointments are also required. After you submit an order, please ask the family to call us at 206-987-2100 to schedule their appointment at one of our five testing locations. Read full post »
Pre-natal Vitamin D and Children’s Neurocognitive Development: Seattle Children’s Study Highlights the Connection and Equity Issues
A study led by Melissa Melough of Seattle Children’s Research Institute sheds light on the benefits of vitamin D intake by pregnant women to their child’s brain development as well as the significantly higher risk of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women of color. Vitamin D deficiency is common among the general population but Black women are at higher risk. “I hope our work brings greater awareness to this problem, shows the long-lasting implications of prenatal vitamin D for the child and their neurocognitive development, and highlights that there are certain groups providers should be paying closer attention to,” says Melough.
Read “Vitamin D Levels During Pregnancy Linked with Child IQ, Study Shows Disparities Among Black Women,” On the Pulse, Nov. 2, 2020.
Special Update: Temporary Referral Backlog – For Urgent Referrals, Please Call Clinical Intake Directly
Wednesday, Oct. 14 – Seattle Children’s is experiencing a temporary referral backlog related to our transition on Oct. 3 to Epic. We will let you know when this issue is resolved.
In the meantime, if you have an urgent referral please send it in the usual way and then call our Clinical Intake Coordinators directly at 206-987-2080, option 2. We will be able to quickly pull your referral from the top of the referral queue to expedite the referral process.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we adjust to our new workflows with Epic.
If you have EpicCare Link specific questions, please contact the help desk at 206-987-4444 or EpicCareLink@seattlechildrens.org.
As always, if you would like to contact our Physician Relations team, please email us at physician.relations@seattlechildrens.org.
Seattle Children’s Transitions to Epic
On Saturday, Oct. 3, Seattle Children’s transitioned to using the Epic electronic medical record system (EMR). PHIN and eReferral are no longer in use.
Patient health information is now available to community providers via the web-based application EpicCare Link. Providers may also use EpicCare Link to submit referrals to Seattle Children’s, although faxed referrals will still be accepted.
Previous users of PHIN and eReferral should have received their new log-in credentials for EpicCare Link in September. If you did not, please contact us at physician.relations@seattlechildrens.org.
If you are a Seattle Children’s Care Network (SCCN) user, nothing has changed in how you access your patients’ medical records; please continue to log in to EpicCare Link as usual through the Okta portal. Likewise, any provider with a Seattle Children’s badge ID should access EpicCare Link through Okta. Read full post »
