Iowa's EPSDT "Care for Kids" Shares Beneficial Telehealth Tips

January 11, 2021

In Iowa, children and youth who are eligible for Medicaid receive their health care benefits through Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids. Iowa's Department of Human Services (DHS) manages these Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) benefits, and each year, DHS contracts with Iowa's UCEDD to offer information and training to the Medicaid providers who care for kids. The contract funds a multidisciplinary team that includes a developmental pediatrician, a general pediatrician, a family medicine physician, a nurse practitioner, and a social worker. The team develops and disseminates information on evidence-based best practices for annual well visits, age-appropriate screenings and procedures, follow-up diagnoses and treatments, and developmental and mental health guidance.

In addition to practice consultation and training, the annual scope of work for the UCEDD's EPSDT team includes two important platforms for information dissemination. The Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids website provides a source of information and referral resources. The Care for Kids newsletter, which is published three times each year, addresses critical issues identified by the newsletter's executive editor and editorial board.

The recently published issue of the Care for Kids newsletter features two very timely articles. The lead article, "Telehealth Tips that Benefit the Provider and Patient," focuses on using several evidence-based communication strategies to provide effective communication during a telehealth visit. Written by Kelly Skelly, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Family Medicine, University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics, and Marcy E. Rosenbaum, PhD, Professor of  Family Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, the article also looks at stages of the visit, starting with pre-visit preparation and finishing with tips for ending the visit.

Also in this issue, as COVID-19 continues to disproportionally affect minority communities, Emad Abou-Arab, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, shares principles that can affect a provider's ability to interact with patients in a culturally liberated manner in his article, "Factors Contributing to Health Care Disparity."

Read the Winter 2021 issue of the Care for Kids newsletter:
https://www.iowaepsdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EPSDT_Winter2021_Web.pdf

To learn more about Iowa UCEDD's, visit the Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids:
https://www.iowaepsdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EPSDT_Winter2021_Web.pdf

If you have questions about Care for Kids, get in touch with Caitlin Owens at Iowa's UCEDD:
[email protected].