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Soranno DE, Amaral S, Ashoor I, Atkinson MA, Barletta GM, Braun MC, Carlson J, Carter C, Chua A, Dharnidharka VR, Drake K, Erkan E, Feig D, Goldstein SL, Hains D, Harshman LA, Ingulli E, Kula AJ, Leonard M, Mannemuddhu S, Menon S, Modi ZJ, Moxey-Mims M, Nada A, Norwood V, Starr MC, Verghese PS, Weidemann D, Weinstein A, Smith J. Responding to the workforce crisis: consensus recommendations from the Second Workforce Summit of the American Society of Pediatric Nephrology. Pediatr Nephrol 2024:10.1007/s00467-024-06410-9. [PMID: 38976042 DOI: 10.1007/s00467-024-06410-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Pediatric patients with complex medical problems benefit from pediatric sub-specialty care; however, a significant proportion of children live greater than 80 mi. away from pediatric sub-specialty care. OBJECTIVE To identify current knowledge gaps and outline concrete next steps to make progress on issues that have persistently challenged the pediatric nephrology workforce. EVIDENCE REVIEW Workforce Summit 2.0 employed the round table format and methodology for consensus building using adapted Delphi principles. Content domains were identified via input from the ASPN Workforce Committee, the ASPN's 2023 Strategic Plan survey, the ASPN's Pediatric Nephrology Division Directors survey, and ongoing feedback from ASPN members. Working groups met prior to the Summit to conduct an organized literature review and establish key questions to be addressed. The Summit was held in-person in November 2023. During the Summit, work groups presented their preliminary findings, and the at-large group developed the key action statements and future directions. FINDINGS A holistic appraisal of the effort required to cover inpatient and outpatient sub-specialty care will help define faculty effort and time distribution. Most pediatric nephrologists practice in academic settings, so work beyond clinical care including education, research, advocacy, and administrative/service tasks may form a substantial amount of a faculty member's time and effort. An academic relative value unit (RVU) may assist in creating a more inclusive assessment of their contributions to their academic practice. Pediatric sub-specialties, such as nephrology, contribute to the clinical mission and care of their institutions beyond their direct billable RVUs. Advocacy throughout the field of pediatrics is necessary in order for reimbursement of pediatric sub-specialist care to accurately reflect the time and effort required to address complex care needs. Flexible, individualized training pathways may improve recruitment into sub-specialty fields such as nephrology. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The workforce crisis facing the pediatric nephrology field is echoed throughout many pediatric sub-specialties. Efforts to improve recruitment, retention, and reimbursement are necessary to improve the care delivered to pediatric patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle E Soranno
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, Purdue University Weldon School of Engineering, 1044 W. Walnut Street, West Lafayette, IN, R4-42146202, USA.
| | - Sandra Amaral
- Departments of Pediatrics and Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Isa Ashoor
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Meredith A Atkinson
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Gina-Marie Barletta
- Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Michael C Braun
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Joann Carlson
- Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Caitlin Carter
- Rady Children's Hospital, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Annabelle Chua
- Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | | | - Keri Drake
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Elif Erkan
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Dan Feig
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama, Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Stuart L Goldstein
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - David Hains
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Lyndsay A Harshman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Ingulli
- Rady Children's Hospital, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Mary Leonard
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Shina Menon
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Zubin J Modi
- Department of Pediatrics and Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Marva Moxey-Mims
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's National Hospital/George Washington University SOM, Washington, D.C, USA
| | - Arwa Nada
- Department of Pediatrics, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, UTHSC, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Victoria Norwood
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Michelle C Starr
- Department of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | | | - Darcy Weidemann
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Nephrology, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA
- University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | - Adam Weinstein
- Department of Medical Sciences and Pediatrics, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, North Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jodi Smith
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Leslie LK, Orr CJ, Turner AL, Mink R, Leonard MB, Sabadosa KA, Vinci RJ. Child Health and the US Pediatric Subspecialty Workforce: Planning for the Future. Pediatrics 2024; 153:e2023063678B. [PMID: 38299999 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2023-063678b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
This article opens a multi-article Pediatrics supplement that provides a rigorous analysis of the projected pediatric subspecialty workforce in the United States. Congenital variations, epigenetics, exposures, lifestyle, preventive care, and medical interventions from conception through young adulthood set the stage for health and wellbeing in adulthood. Although care provided by pediatric subspecialists is associated with better outcomes and lower costs compared with adult providers, the authors of recent articles in the lay and medical literature have questioned the capacity of pediatric subspecialists to meet children's health care needs. This article highlights that, despite numerous advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, the last decade has witnessed increasing numbers of children with acute or chronic physical and mental health disorders, including medical complexity, obesity, type 2 diabetes, anxiety, depression, and suicidality, all of which are exacerbated by poverty, racism, and other social drivers of health. In this article, we then describe the variability in the demographics, practice characteristics, and geographic distribution of the 15 core pediatric subspecialties certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. We then discuss the rationale and approach to the development of a pediatric subspecialty workforce model that forecasts subspecialist supply from 2020 to 2040 for 14 subspecialties at the national and subnational levels (not including the newest subspecialty, pediatric hospital medicine), accounting for US Census Bureau child population projections. The model does not account for the unique physical and mental needs of individual children, nor does it address the increasingly precarious commitment to, and financing of, pediatric subspecialty care in the US health care system impacting market demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel K Leslie
- American Board of Pediatrics, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Colin J Orr
- University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, ChapelHill, North Carolina
| | - Adam L Turner
- American Board of Pediatrics, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Richard Mink
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Torrance, California
| | - Mary B Leonard
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California
| | | | - Robert J Vinci
- Boston Medical Center, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
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Myers AL, Fussell JJ, Moffatt ME, Boyer D, Ross R, Dammann CEL, Degnon L, Weiss P, Sauer C, Vinci RJ. The Importance of Subspecialty Pediatricians to the Health and Wellbeing of the Nation's Children. J Pediatr 2023:13365. [PMID: 36894130 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2023.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023]
Abstract
Through this review of published literature, it is clear that children benefit in measurable ways when they receive care from trained pediatric subspecialists. The improved outcomes provided by pediatric subspecialists supports the care provided in the patient's pediatric medical home and emphasizes the importance of care coordination between all components of the pediatric workforce. The AAP highlights this in a recent policy statement by stating the care provided by pediatric clinicians "encompasses diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic health disorders; management of serious and life-threatening illnesses; and when appropriate, referral of patients with more complex conditions for medical subspecialty or surgical specialty care" Explicit in this statement is the emphasis on the role of complex care coordination between pediatric specialist and primary care pediatricians and that collaboration and guidance by the pediatrician is central to providing optimal care of patients. 65 Improving health outcomes early in life is an important public health strategy for modifying the complications from childhood chronic disease and highlights the role of pediatricians in mitigating the long-term consequences of antecedents of adult disease. 66 The recent announcement of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)'s plan for a Consensus Study on The Pediatric Subspecialty Workforce and Its Impact on Child Health and Well-being is a related and exciting development, on a national scale. 67 In response to shortages and geographic maldistributions of pediatric subspecialists, the NASEM committee intends to assess the impact of current pediatric clinical workforce trends on child health and well-being, in order to develop informed strategies to ensure an adequate, high-quality pediatric workforce, with a robust research portfolio that informs those recommendations. While this large, national initiative will surely lead to a better understanding of and strategies to implement across the pediatric subspecialty workforce, more well-designed studies that specifically measure child outcomes related to access to pediatric subspecialty care, would add meaningfully to the body of pediatric literature and to our national pediatric advocacy initiatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela L Myers
- Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy, Kansas City, University of Missouri-Kansas City, KC, MO
| | - Jill J Fussell
- Professor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences/Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR
| | - Mary E Moffatt
- Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy, Kansas City, University of Missouri-Kansas City, KC, MO
| | - Debra Boyer
- DIO/Chief Medical Education Officer, Professor of Pediatrics, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
| | - Robert Ross
- Children's Hospital of Michigan, Professor of Pediatrics, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Detroit, MI
| | | | | | - Pnina Weiss
- Professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Cary Sauer
- Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
| | - Robert J Vinci
- Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA
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