Overview
The Bright Futures training and implementation materials are designed to help office staff improve developmental screening and preventive services for children under age 5.
The Issue:
Among its many provisions to improve health insurance coverage, the 2010 health reform legislation mandates coverage of preventive services for infants, young children, and adolescents, including evidence-based preventive care and screenings as outlined in the comprehensive guidelines—Bright Futures—supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration and developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Federal guidelines offer recommendations to help pediatricians and other child health clinicians improve the quality of care for young children. In a Commonwealth Fund–supported pilot project, 15 pediatric practices across nine states tested strategies for implementing these recommendations.
The Intervention
The Bright Futures training and implementation materials, which draw on the resources and lessons from the pilot project, are designed to help office staff improve developmental screening and preventive services for children under age 5. The free materials include:
Volume 1: Improving Preventive Care in Your Office—Tools for Office Improvement
- Tips for developing a preventive services prompting system
- Strategies for designing a recall and reminder system
- An overview of screening tools
- Community resources checklist
Volume 2: Working with Practices to Improve Preventive Care—A Leader's Guide
This step-by-step guide is written for the individual who has primary responsibility for overseeing the implementation of Bright Futures strategies.
Volume 3: Training Materials to Improve Preventive Care in Office Practice—Bright Futures Workshop Materials
Resources, slide presentations, and worksheets from two workshops on the delivery of screening and preventive services for children under age 5.
For More Information
To download the free resources, visit the Bright Futures Web site at http://www.brightfutures.aap.org/clinical/training_and_implementation_materials.html.