Guests: Kelly Whitener & Dr. Katrina Skinner
Summary
Here is a summary in 10 bullet points:
1. Pediatric Practice Resilience: Recognizes pediatricians' unique qualities in delivering strong vaccine messages, managing vaccine storage/distribution, and advocating for vaccine acceptance.
2. Vaccine Administration Insights: Dr. Katrina Skinner provides extensive procedural insights for administering the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in pediatric offices, emphasizing logistical preparations and potential challenges.
3. Health Insurance Critique: Highlights substantial financial gains by health insurers like United Health Care during the pandemic, emphasizing the necessity for pediatricians to be assertive in managed care negotiations.
4. Data and Financial Management: Discussion on the critical need for practices to plan cash flow and adopt strategic scheduling to manage the financial impact of reduced patient visits during the pandemic.
5. Pediatric Health Statistics: Insights into the long-term benefits of Medicaid for children, including increased health outcomes, educational attainment, and future earnings, emphasizing the importance of Medicaid.
6. Declining Healthcare Utilization: Illustrates the drop in pediatric healthcare services during early Covid-19, with a slow rebound, stressing the sustained impact on child health metrics like immunizations and screenings.
7. Managed Care Bottleneck: Highlighted concerns over managed Medicaid's inefficiencies and potential reforms, citing Virginia's approach to reallocating managed care funds to support providers.
8. Vaccine Wars Documentary: Laura Davis discusses "Vaccine Wars," a documentary aimed at countering vaccine hesitancy fueled by misinformation, and calls for support to complete and disseminate the project.
9. AAP Contributions and Call for Support: Emphasizes the AAP’s extensive efforts in advocating for pediatricians during the pandemic and calls for practitioners to support evidence submissions for policy advocacy.