News:


Suncoast Pediatric Conference Is June
24-27 at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota
Register now for the 34th Annual Florida Suncoast Pediatric Conference at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. Register at www.allkids.org/conferences to save $100 on registration and to receive discounted room rates. The keynote speaker is Barbara Staggers, MD, MPH, FAAP, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital & Research Center, Oakland, CA.

The Pre-Conference Coding Workshop on Thursday, June 24 (2 to 5 pm) will be led by Richard Lander, MD, FAAP. Dr. Lander chairs the AAP Section on Administration and Practice Management and serves on the Academy’s Private Payors Advisory Advocacy Committee. He has been in private practice in New Jersey since 1978 and is an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics at St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ.

As a result of the workshop, participants will be able to maximize reimbursement and minimize liability through direct physician involvement with coding and documentation. Three AMA PRA Category 1 credits are available for the Pre-Conference Coding Workshop.

Check out the complete list of speakers and topics at www.allkids.org/conferences.


May 25 Practical Pediatrics Dinner @ All Children’s Specialty Care of Sarasota
Practical Pediatrics for Our Clinical Colleagues: Dermatology

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 6:00 – 8:15pm

AMA/PRA Category 1 Credits: 2; Dinner Provided

Chair: Jennifer L. R. Mayer, MD, FAAP
•
Dermatologic Manifestations of Infectious Diseases
•
Infantile Hemangiomas: A Collaborative Approach to Patient Care
•
Psoriasis: Etiology, Manifestations & Management in the Pediatric Population

Location:
All Children's Specialty Care of Sarasota
5881 Rand Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34238

Registration at www.allkids.org/cme is required!


May Outreach Grand Rounds
Outreach Grand Rounds @ Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Thursday, May 27, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Viraine Weerasooriya, MD

Topic: Infant/Preemie Nutrition


No Grand Rounds in ECC on May 28 & June 4
Please note that Pediatric Grand Rounds will NOT be held on Friday, May 28 (Memorial Day weekend) or Friday, June 4 (All Children’s Telethon).

It’s a good time to visit www.allkids.org/cme to view webcasts of recent Grand Rounds presentations you have missed.

The ACH Retail Pharmacy has expanded its participation in managed care plans and is pleased to report that the great majority of insurance plans are accepted. In addition, the Retail Pharmacy — with locations in both St. Petersburg and Tampa — provides exceptional value on generic medications.

The Retail Pharmacy-St. Petersburg (located on the first floor of the new hospital, just off the main lobby) is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ambulatory surgery patients, Emergency Center patients, Outpatient Care Center (OCC) clinic patients as well as inpatients who are about to be discharged from the hospital can take advantage of the convenience and savings. You may contact the Retail Pharmacy-St. Petersburg by phone at ext. 78933 (or 727-767-8933) and by fax at 727-767-8818.

All Children’s Specialty Care of Tampa (12220 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.) also contains a pharmacy that provides both infusion and retail services. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached by phone at ext. 75006 (or 813-631-5006) and by fax at 813-631-5094.

Some prescription medications for children can pose a challenge for community pharmacies. The ACH Retail Pharmacies routinely prepares most compounds and other medications for which there is not a standard pediatric dosage formulation commercially available. The pharmacy can provide convenient one-stop shopping for special patient populations, including transplant patients.

To learn more about these services please contact Pharmacy Ambulatory Manager Evelio Prieto at ext.
767-3777 or evelio.prieto@allkids.org.
Open For Enrollment:
Autism and Anxiety Studies for
Children and Adolescents
The Rothman Center for Neuropsychiatry is conducting two separate studies to examine a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy program for children and adolescents diagnosed with autism, Asperger's or Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS) and a concurrent anxiety disorder. As many as 80 percent of children and teens with autism spectrum disorders have anxiety problems that cause stress and difficulties in daily life. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can reduce anxiety and improve quality of life.

For children ages 7-11:
Potential participants will receive diagnostic evaluations to screen for autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders. Patients selected for the study will be randomized to receive CBT or to continue current treatment for 16 weeks. After 16 weeks the “treatment as usual” patients will have the opportunity to receive CBT for 16 weeks free of charge if the child still needs an intervention for anxiety. Evaluations and treatments are conducted free of charge. This research may lead to an effective form of psychotherapy for children with autism and anxiety. The study is funded by the All Children’s Hospital and directed by Dr. Eric Storch.

For adolescents ages 11-14:
CBT is known to work extremely well for youth with anxiety disorders in reducing daily anxiety and improving quality of life. However, this treatment has not been adapted for early adolescents with both autism spectrum disorders and anxiety. Potential participants will receive diagnostic evaluations to screen for autism spectrum disorders and anxiety disorders to determine eligibility. Participants will be randomly chosen (50% chance) to either receive CBT for 16 weeks immediately or be placed on a waiting list and receive the treatment later in the study. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health and directed by Dr. Eric Storch.

In both studies, there will be three psychiatric evaluations during the course of the treatment plus a follow-up evaluation after the study. All treatments and evaluations will be conducted free of cost.

To learn more about the study or discuss a referral, please call Project Coordinator Sarah Gunderson at
727-767-7427 or email her at sgunders@health.usf.edu.
Radiology Adds PET/CT Services
The ACH Radiology Department is pleased to announce the addition of PET/CT scanning, with sedation available for infants and younger children.

PET/CT fuses a functional image (PET) with an anatomical image (CT) to provide enhanced clarity and detail. This modality measures uptake of a fluorine isotope bound to a glucose molecule to track glucose metabolism through tissue and organs. It is particularly useful in evaluating malignant and benign tumors and refractory seizures.

Patients scheduled for PET/CT scans must adhere to a low-glucose, low-carbohydrate diet for 24 hours prior to the scan.

PET/CT is available on a weekly basis. Scans are performed on Tuesday; patients must be scheduled by noon on Monday. Please call the Nuclear Medicine Scheduling Office at 727-767-7700 to schedule a patient for a scan.
Brandon Center Adds Full-Day Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic
All Children's Specialty Care of Brandon will offer a weekly full-day Pediatric Infectious Disease Clinic, beginning in June. Dr. Juan Dumois, Dr. David Berman and Dr. Allison Messina will visit the Brandon center on a rotating basis; the clinic will be held each Thursday, effective June 3.

Our Pediatric Infectious Disease team also sees patients at All Children's Specialty Care Centers in Ft. Myers and Sarasota. Please call the Pediatric Infectious Disease program at 727-767-4160 to schedule a patient at any of these outreach locations.