An autumn uptick in mental health visits to the ED is normal as school begins and days darken. This year the surge began unexpectedly early at Seattle Children’s, in August, with about 20 more visits to the ED for mental health concerns than in the previous year. September and October ED numbers are holding steady so far compared to prior years. The difference is the acuity. More kids are arriving with mental health concerns who require admission.
“We all feared the effect that isolation, the pandemic and general societal stress would have on kids,” says Russ Migita, MD, clinical director of Emergency Services. “It’s because of the great work PCPs are doing to support kids and their families that we aren’t seeing even higher numbers in the ED yet. But the busy season is just beginning. We all need to work together to advocate for more resources and options for patients and families in the community.” Read full post »
Billing change: Seattle Children’s is billing a home telehealth administration fee of $75 for all telehealth visits, similar to the facility fee charged for in-person visits. The fee covers hospital expenses for a telehealth visit that are separate from the cost of the medical provider, including equipment and additional staff the hospital provides to support the appointment.
The home telehealth admin fee applies to telehealth visits with our hospital-based clinics, regardless of the provider’s location (e.g. office, home, lab), when patients are seen by a doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or mental health professional. Read full post »
An international panel of sleep experts is adding a new pediatric sleep disorder they call restless sleep disorder (RSD) to parents’ and pediatricians’ radars.
Led by Seattle Children’s pediatric sleep specialist, Dr. Lourdes DelRosso, the group shared their consensus on a medical definition of RSD in a paper published in Sleep Medicine. Known to occur in children ages 6 to 18, RSD can lead to attention impairment, mood and behavioral problems and other issues at home and school due to poor sleep quality. Read full post »
PRoMPT BOLUS (PRagMatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced vs. nOrmaL Saline FlUid in Sepsis) is a clinical study to compare two commonly used treatments for pediatric sepsis to see if one is more effective and safer than the other. The treatments in this study are two different types of intravenous (IV) fluids. One fluid type is normal saline and the other is balanced fluids (such as lactated Ringer’s or PlasmaLyte). Both fluid types are effective to treat sepsis and both are commonly used, but we do not know if one of these fluid types is better. Read full post »
Work-Up and Management of Pediatric Urologic Conditions
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. MDT (Webex)
New Thoughts and Algorithms for Workup and Management of Pediatric Urologic Conditions
Category II CME credit
Speakers: Drs. Paul Merguerian, MD, MS, and Mark Cain, and Carlyn Doyle, NP
RSVP by Oct. 27 to [email protected] or [email protected]. Read full post »
Provider Grand Rounds:
Full schedule and Webex/dial-in information
Oct. 8: Mapping Child Health. Simon Hay, adjunct professor, global health professor, Health Metrics Sciences, UW.
Oct. 15: Advocacy for All Children: The Role of Pediatrics in 2020. Mark Del Monte, JD,
CEO/executive vice president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Oct. 22: Pandemics, Policing, and Protest: On Racism and Adolescent Health. Robert Deisher, Adolescent Medicine; Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH; American Academy of Pediatrics Executive Council on Communications and Media. Read full post »
We are excited to continue partnering with our pediatric provider community in offering COVID-19 testing (see our COVID-19 testing page for complete information including how to order a test).
Availability of tests:
Our capacity is highest at our Urgent Care in Seattle. Testing is frequently fully booked at our South Clinic in Federal Way. Our remaining locations usually have some capacity. Appointments can generally be scheduled within 24 to 48 hours.
Testing locations:
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- Sand Point Learning Center (drive-through)
- Urgent Care – Seattle Hospital Campus
- Urgent Care – North Clinic in Everett
- Urgent Care – Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center
- Urgent Care – South Clinic in Federal Way
Read full post »
Dr. Monique Burton and Dr. Celeste Quitiquit are both sports medicine pediatricians. Dr. Burton is medical director of sports medicine and Dr. Quitiquit is co-medical director of the athletic training program at Seattle Children’s.
What does the sports landscape look like for kids this fall?
Monique Burton
Celeste Quitiquit
Drs. Burton and Quitiquit: Youth sports definitely looks different this fall. Some sporting teams are in full effect, with fingers crossed. Other teams already cancelled their seasons in advance. Many sporting teams tread carefully, building safety and contingency plans, creating hybrid practice agendas and trying to stay current with COVID-related news. To say there are some modifications is definitely an understatement. For example, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) has divided the upcoming school year into four sports seasons rather than the usual three, limiting play in fall and moving more play to spring. Almost all of November and December will be a no-play period during which WIAA will reassess plans for 2021 based on what’s happening with COVID-19. It’s very much a fluid, “stay tuned” type of situation. Read full post »
On Oct. 3, Seattle Children’s will transition to the Epic electronic medical record system (EMR). Approximately 5,000 referring providers and their staff will be using EpicCare Link to refer patients and view their patients’ health information at Seattle Children’s.
- We will no longer use PHIN after Oct. 3. We have also stopped accepting new applications to use PHIN.
- Providers will be able to submit referrals and access patient information at Seattle Children’s by using the web-based application EpicCare Link (more info below).
- eReferral was rebranded in August 2020 to become EpicCare Link.
Read full post »
