Improving adolescent access and services in a large primary care network: report of a 10 year project
-
Elizabeth M. Alderman
,
Kim L. Freeman
Abstract
This report describes a decade long initiative to bring a unified approach and improved quality to the process and content of adolescent health care in a large and complex urban primary care network within an academic health system. The moving force was a voluntary multidisciplinary group who comprised the Montefiore Adolescent Primary Care Initiative, known as MAPCI, led by a physician subspecialist in Adolescent Medicine. A series of needs assessments formed the basis for a multipronged effort to create policies and procedures, educational activities and materials, changes in record-keeping and billing practices, and modification of staff attitudes and behavior that would enhance access and ensure confidentiality of services for the adolescent age group. The commitment of medical center leadership contributed to overall progress which was accelerated in the second half of the decade by the addition of a full-time staff member, with the title Adolescent Program Manager. Progress in various arenas was assessed with a series of planned studies, whose positive results provided encouragement for continuing efforts. The example of this initiative and its accomplishments should provide useful and replicable methods that could be adapted for improvement of adolescent health services in some of the other large primary care networks that are an ever-expanding presence in the current health care environment.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all of those who have served on the MAPCI Steering Committee through the years. Thank you to Dr. Susan Coupey and Dr. Andy Racine for their thoughtful review of this manuscript.
References
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Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Adverse effects of stimulant medications in children and adolescents: focus on sleep and growth disturbances
- The relationship between anxiety, depression and risk behaviors in adolescents
- Bullying, its effects on attitude towards class attendance and the contribution of physical and dentofacial features among adolescents in Northern Nigeria
- Psychometric analysis of Epworth Sleepiness Scale and its correlation with Pittsburgh sleep quality index in poor sleepers among Indian university students
- Self-care challenges in adolescents: a comprehensive literature review
- Sexual behavior and pregnancy among adolescents in foster family homes
- Sad and lonely: body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls
- Distracted driving on YouTube: implications for adolescents
- Factors affecting utilization of youth friendly health services in Lagos State, Nigeria
- Adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern and overweight and obesity among female adolescents in Iran
- Associations among daytime sleepiness, depression and suicidal ideation in Korean adolescents
- Influencing factors on high-risk sexual behaviors in young people: an ecological perspective
- Improving adolescent access and services in a large primary care network: report of a 10 year project
- Is age of menarche among school girls related to academic performance?
- Bicycle and helmet use of adolescents in Markham, Canada
