1. Abuse at Home: Harm Reduction Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic Workshop
When: Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
Where: WebEx. Phone number: 650-479-3207. Access code: 282 103 292
Description: Staying at home is not a safe option for everyone. Data suggests intimate partner violence and child abuse are increasing during this time of social distancing and quarantine. Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Clinic will conduct a 40-minute online workshop to discuss the current state of intimate partner violence and child abuse, trends and strategies to increase safety at home.
There will be a QR code for a survey at the end of the training. Attendees will receive a CE certificate from the event manager after submitting the survey. Read full post »
Our Ophthalmology program has released updated referral guidelines and resources for patient care, including a vetted list of pediatric eye care providers in Washington.
The new information is intended to help our Ophthalmology program focus on seeing patients who cannot find equivalent care in the community and reduce the long wait times in our clinic — currently about five months for patients with nonurgent conditions. Read full post »
Although the CME conference planned for March 7, “Urgent Pediatric Problems: Bridging Office and Emergency Care,” was cancelled due to COVID-19, Seattle Children’s has posted videos of the presentations that conference speakers had intended to give. Conference planners wanted to honor the preparation and work of the speakers by sharing these presentations with not only those who registered for the conference but also the wider PCP community. Read full post »
Seattle Children’s is now offering telemedicine appointments for physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT) and speech-language pathology (SLP). While it may not be intuitive that these services can be provided via telemedicine, in fact they work well in many situations. Our therapists often combine telemedicine with periodic in-person visits, which is a format that is widely used nationally and is effective for both patients and therapists.
Patients who need to be seen in person and/or use our specialized equipment rooms will still be provided with in-person appointments at our locations in Seattle, Bellevue, Everett and Federal Way, when it is safe to do so or when those appointments are considered urgent. Read full post »
To help minimize the unintentional spread of COVID-19, the 16th Annual Pediatric Bioethics Conference, hosted by the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, has been rescheduled to next year: July 23 and July 24, 2021. The conference theme will remain the same — “Pushing the Limits: Children, Athletics and Ethics.” For more information, visit the Pediatric Bioethics Conference page.
Caring for Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth
Saturday, June 6. Save the date and check back for details.
Grand Rounds
Provider Grand Rounds: full schedule and Webex/dial-in information
May 7, 2020: Neonatal Cholestasis: More Than Yellow Eyes and Pale Stools. Niviann Blondet, MD; acting assistant professor of Pediatrics, UW; Gastroenterology, Seattle Children’s.
May 14, 2020: Improving the EHR to Support Clinical Decision-Making and Reduce Clinician Burnout. Ari Pollack, MD, MSIM; assistant professor, Pediatrics, UW; Nephrology, Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment, Seattle Children’s. Read full post »
Guidance on When to Obtain a Second Test for SARS-CoV2
Guidance on who should be tested for SARS-CoV-2 has been updated to include information on when providers should consider sending a second test from patients who have had one test that is negative. Generally speaking, a second test should be reserved for patients for whom there is a high level of concern for COVID-19.
Rationale for obtaining a 2nd testing during a course of illness:
- Well-designed PCR tests for SARS-CoV2 have high analytical sensitivity, but clinical sensitivity is unknown due to lack of clinical gold standard.
- Clinical sensitivity is dependent on where the patient is in the course of their illness and the associated viral load (viral load decreases later in the course of illness).
- SARS-CoV2 appears to have anatomical tropism. For instance, in general, shedding persists for longer in lower respiratory tract specimens and as a result, lower respiratory tract specimens have higher sensitivity than upper respiratory tract specimens.
- Our testing strategy at Seattle Children’s calls for utilizing upper respiratory tract specimens as the primary specimen because it is not always possible and is often not easy to obtain a lower tract specimen from a pediatric patient.
- However, when suspicion for SARS-CoV2 disease (COVID-19) is high, consideration should be given to obtaining a second test and preferably from the lower respiratory tract if possible.
Read full post »
A multidisciplinary group of physicians at Seattle Children’s has developed a management guideline for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although there is no treatment with proven efficacy for COVID-19, this guidance will help with risk stratification and outlines evaluation and treatment approaches that should be considered. Current evidence for various investigational agents is also included. This guidance was developed with resources and capabilities at Seattle Children’s in mind. It will be updated periodically as more evidence becomes available.
The guidelines are currently being used by a multidisciplinary group at Seattle Children’s who review and discuss each patient before making recommendations based on current guidelines. These are general guidelines; as with most guidelines, clinical correlation is required. Read full post »
For a summary of Seattle Children’s news and information about COVID-19, read our Provider FAQs.
1. COVID-19 in Kids: Seattle Children’s Testing Shows 1.5% Positivity Rate
Seattle Children’s has tested 1,757 patients as of April 15, with 19 patients testing positive and 7 inconclusive, for an overall positivity rate of 1.5%. Seventeen patients who tested positive are recovering at home, two are hospitalized.
COVID-19 cases in children make up less than 2% of reported cases in the U.S., according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (April 7, 2020).
2. COVID-19 Scheduling Triage Extended to June 30
The triage standards instituted by Seattle Children’s for scheduling have been extended to June 30. The standards provide a consistent approach to scheduling across all specialties and locations and will minimize our scheduling backlog once standard operations resume.
Please note, scheduling triage standards apply to both new and return appointments.
Tier 1: Patients who need to be seen in person by the provider before July 1
- Clinical situation that could be compromised by delay in care and requires physical examination to support clinical decision-making
Tier 2: Patients who can be seen with a telephone or telehealth visit — can be scheduled at any time.
- Follow up care where the physical exam is not essential to decision making
- Key physical exam or imaging findings may be obtained by other means (e.g., PACS, photos, etc.)
- Referrals/consults that can be assessed with a telephone or telehealth visit
Read full post »
When health officials learned a Seattle Children’s patient tested positive for the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in late February, it sent a ripple through health and scientific communities nationwide. It was the first example of community transmission in the state of Washington, indicating the virus causing COVID-19 had likely been spreading in Seattle and the surrounding region undetected.
It was a moment Seattle Children’s had prepared to face since establishing an incident command center more than one month prior. From this command center, teams from across the organization met to support advance planning and coordinate actions for a potential COVID-19 surge in the region.
“Before there were any confirmed cases in the U.S., Seattle Children’s anticipated the potential for an outbreak in our region,” says CEO Dr. Jeff Sperring. “Over the past several weeks, we have provided specialized training for our team, established strict protocols for health and hygiene, and consolidated essential supplies so we would be ready to protect our patients.” Read full post »
