Updated schedule

8:30          Registration and breakfast

9:00          Welcome and introductions

9:15          Lauren Smith MD, MPH – Medical Director of the Mass Dept of Public Health

“Public Health and Health Disparities:  The Social Becomes Biologic”

9:45          Peter Masiakos MS, MD – Pediatric Surgeon, Mass General Hospital

“The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few:  How Meaningful Legislation Impacts Children’s Health”

Focus on the Issues:  S366: An Act to Regulate the Use of Off Highway and Recreation Vehicles

10:15        The Kearney Family: A family’s perspective on the ATV bill

10:30        Short break and snack

10:45        David DeMaso MD- Chairman of Psychiatry, Children’s Hosp of Boston

Focus on the Issues:  S757 & H3586: An Act for Coordination of Children’s Mental Health Care Services

11:00        Sean Palfrey MD- Prof of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center

With a visit from Alice Wolf- State Representative 25^th Middlesex District

Focus on the Issues: S859 & H3453: An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Childhood Vaccines Program and    the Massachusetts Immunization Registry

11:45        Visit from Senate President Therese Murray

12:00        Sean Palfrey MD & Ed Brennan, Esq. – Legal Counsel & Lobbyist, MCAAP – Workshop: “How to be an Effective Lobbyist” & Question & Answer Session

12:30        Lunch

1:00          Meetings with individual legislators

2:00 –       Feedback and Wrap-up

Schedule of Events

8:30                 Registration and breakfast

9:00                 Welcome and introductions

9:15                 Lauren Smith – Director of the Mass Dept of Public Health

9:45                 Peter Masiakos- Professor of Pediatric Surgery, Mass Gen Hospital

10:00               The Kearney Family: Discussing Impact of the ATV Bill

10:15               Short break and snack

10:45               David DeMaso MD- Chair of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston, Mental Health Bill

11:00              Alex Calcagno – Lobbyist for the Mass Med Society, How to be an Effective Lobbyist

12:00               Sean Palfrey-Prof of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center & Ed Brennan- Lobbyist for the MCAAP, Immunization Bill                     

12:20               Questions & Answers

12:30               Lunch

1:30                 Meetings with individual legislators

Mental Health Bill

Mental health coverage for the young is critically important.  I am faced with patients regularly who struggle to get the healthcare they need.  For those with insurance, the waits are tremendous and for those without (or with coverage that limits mental health benefits) they often go without or their parents take on significant financial risks to get them care. 

The MCPAP-Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (http://mcpap.typepad.com/) has offered some much needed relief but it is not enough.  We must get more coverage for childhood mental health and increase reimbursement in order to encourage more mental health providers to train to take care of children.

ATV Bill

Once again, this year’s Resident Day at the State House event is shaping up to be a phenomenal combination of education and advocacy. I remain extremely proud of the tireless work the MGHfC residents put into this event. Every year is better than the last. I am really excited to be coming this year and we’re all hoping that this may be the extra push that the ATV age restriction legislation needs to pass!

RSVP for RDASH 2009

We just had a recent meeting of our pediatric advocacy group!

We are ready to send out the final information for our RDASH 2009 event. We are so excited to have two amazing keynote speakers this year: Dr. Lauren Smith who is the medical director of the Department of Public Health and Dr. Peter Masiakos who is one of our pediatric surgeons at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. We are still working on settling our active issues from this year but will definitely be learning about the ATV bill and talking to legislators about it. We are also hoping to discuss the Mental Health Bill this year and funding for immunizations.

Here is the info for our event ! Please RSVP if you are interested in attending.                                   – Alenka Zeman MD PGY-3 Senior Resident

Pediatric Residents and Fellows Day at the State House                                                                                                                                       

Monday June 1, 2009 

8:30am- 3:00pm Great Hall- Massachusetts State House

RSVP by April 1st to Catherine Aftandilian    caftandilian@partners.org

Please include in your reply:

Name, Institution, Home address, T-Shirt Size & whether or not you will participate in the morning only or full-day session.

We hope to see you there!
Resident Advocacy Group, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children

 

RDASH 2009

After a good deal of soul searching and numerous email exchanges, we finally have a date for RDASH 2009!  This year, we will be visiting the Massachusetts State House to advocate for pediatric health issues on Monday, June 1st, 2009.  The event is from 9 am to 4 pm and is free to all participants.  We’re already working hard to come up with a great set of speakers.

First Advocacy Meeting of the Year

On Saturday September 6th, the MGHfC Pediatric Advocacy Group had the first meeting of the year. Dr. Shannon Scott-Vernaglia provided a delicious clambake while we discussed projects for the coming year. Top on the agenda is selecting a date and key issues for Resident and Fellow Day at the State House. Other ideas include an advocacy pocket card for residents and extending the Reach out and Read program to all clinic locations.

 

Alenka Zeman (on left) and Emily Kung (on right) spend some quality time with Rebecca, one of Dr. Scott-Vernaglia's children.

Deepak Palakshappa, a second year med peds resident, shows off his ability to identify with children.

RDASH 2008 Pictures

RDASH 2008 Organizers

Dr. Katie Zuckerman greeting RDASH attendee
Dr. Katie Brigham

Drs. Anna Rosenquist (left) and Alenka Zeman
(right) welcome the RDASH attendees and
explain the schedule of events

RDASH was attended by nearly 70
residents and fellows

Practice 101: Prearing to Meet the Legislators

Meeting with Donna, a staffer for Senator
Petrucelli

Wrap up

I would have to say that I think Residents Day at the State House 2008 was a great success!  We had a group of fabulous speakers and fabulous participants.  I was very excited to see that the Booster Seat Bill was recently signed by Governor Patrick:  http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/04/11/patrick_signs_booster_seat_bill/

And I’ll keep an eye out for the other bills we supported.  Stay tuned to see some great pictures from the event…

An Act Relative to Children’s Mental Health, S.2518

It was a Friday night, and I was partway through my shift on the inpatient pediatric unit at the MassGeneral Hospital for Children when I got the call:“We have a 15 year old female we’re admitting to you after a suicide attempt.She’s medically stable, but we can’t find a psychiatric bed for her.”Mary, as I’ll call her, had spent the past four days in the emergency room while numerous psychiatrists and case managers scrambled to get her admitted to a psychiatric facility that would be covered by her insurance.By Friday evening, the emergency room staff decided that they were unlikely to find a bed over the weekend, so Mary was admitted to the pediatric floor for monitoring and observation while the hunt for psychiatric placement continued.

When I finally met her late that Friday night, it had been more than 4 days since her suicide attempt, and she and her family looked exhausted.As I interviewed them, I learned that Mary had been feeling depressed for over a year.Her family had been aware that Mary seemed down, but did not understand the extent of her depression.She had not received any outpatient treatment because it was not covered by her insurance.It was frustrating and sad to watch the story unfold and realize that this could have been caught much earlier.It was even more frustrating to not be able to get Mary the treatment she needed in a timely fashion.

It is because of my experience with patients like Mary that I have become involved in pediatric advocacy.As a new pediatrician, much of my time is spent learning the intricacies of the body, and I am only now realizing that I must begin to understand the intricacies of politics as well.Children cannot speak for themselves and so pediatricians must speak for them.Through the MassGeneral Hospital for Children Advocacy Group, I have recently become aware of a bill currently under consideration: “An Act Relative to Children’s Mental Health, S.2518.”

This bill dates back to a 2002 class action lawsuit, Rosie D vs. Romney, which was filed on behalf of eight children with serious psychiatric problems who were unable to obtain services at home.The lawsuit claimed that the Commonwealth violated the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program of the Medicaid Act which is designed to assure availability and accessibility of health care resources for low-income children.The trial began in 2005 and involved more than 30 witnesses over 6 weeks testifying about the need for home-based services and the harm that occurs when these services are not available.

In early 2006, Judge Michael Ponsor ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and went on to say that Massachusetts did not provide adequate screening, in-home behavioral and crisis services, case management and care coordination for an estimated 15,000 children with serious emotional disturbances.This landmark decision resulted in a flurry of activity to remedy the situation.After 2 years of work and numerous revisions, “An Act Relative to Children’s Mental Health” is currently under review.This bill would improve and expand mental health services for children in Massachusetts by mandating early screening for behavioral health problems, ensuring children are treated in the most appropriate setting, improving insurance coverage and broadening delivery of state services.

On April 8^th, I and other pediatricians from across Massachusetts gathered at the Statehouse to advocate for this bill and others like it.Residents and Fellows Day at the State House is organized by the residents at MassGeneral Hospital for Children and sponsored by the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.This event is an opportunity for new pediatricians to gather at the State House for lobbying workshops from leaders in the field, learn about pediatric-relevant bills currently undergoing review, and meet with their own legislators.

Politicians need to hear from parents and pediatricians about the importance of bill S.2518.If you’re interested in supporting this bill, please find your elected officials at http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.phpTo contact them, please visit http://www.mass.gov/legis/memmenu.htm.Hopefully through our joint efforts, other families will not have to experience a suicide attempt, 4 days in the emergency room and 2 days admitted to the hospital in order to get their daughter the help that she needs.