RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Electronic health records (EHRs) often lack the necessary functionalities to support the full implementation of national clinical guidelines for pediatric care outlined in the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures Guidelines. Using HealthySteps (HS), an evidence-based pediatric primary care program, as an exemplar, this study aimed to enhance pediatric EHRs, identify facilitators and barriers to EHR enhancements, and improve data quality for delivering clinical care as part of HS implementation and evidence building. METHODS: Three HS sites-each differing in location, setting, number of children served, and mix of child insurance coverage-participated in the study. Sites received technical assistance to support data collection and EHR updates. A comprehensive evaluation, including a process evaluation and outcomes monitoring, was conducted to gauge progress toward implementing study data requirements over time. Data sources included administrative records, surveys, and interviews. RESULTS: All sites enhanced their EHRs yet relied on supplemental data systems to track care coordination. Sites improved documentation of required data, demonstrating reductions in missing data and increases in extractable data between baseline and follow-up assessments. For example, the percentage of missing social-emotional screening results ranged from 0% to 8.0% at study conclusion. Facilitators and barriers to EHR enhancements included organizational supports, leadership, and capacity building. CONCLUSIONS: With significant investment of time and resources, practices modified their EHRs to better capture services aligned with HS and Bright Futures. However, more scalable digital solutions are necessary to support EHR updates to help drive improvements in clinical care and outcomes for children and families.
RESUMEN
Healthy parent-child relationships are clearly critical to healthy child development. Parenting programs develop caregivers' skills to support the health and well-being of children. Rigorous evidence has demonstrated the efficacy of these programs. Rising rates of child and youth depression, anxiety, grief, and suicide, both prior to and compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, provide further reasons to implement parenting programs that support all parents in their essential roles. Parents can act as a buffer to stressors and support for children's well-being when they have the knowledge and skills to do so. Pediatric primary care practices are a natural setting for parenting programs, but challenges, including stigma, technology, workflow issues, and funding, have prevented their broad dissemination, implementation, and sustainability. In this article, we develop a framework for implementing parenting programs in primary care and present key considerations for selecting programs that fit the needs of parents, providers, patients, and the practice. We offer lessons from our experiences in overcoming these challenges, using the updated Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to structure our discussion. We also provide an initial stepwise process which readers may use to plan their own parenting program implementation. Pediatric clinicians and practices can use this article and associated resources to plan, implement, and evaluate parenting programs in their practices as a strategy to help address the growing youth mental health crisis. Improving parenting behaviors can reduce the need for current or future mental health interventions by supporting optimal child development, emotional regulation, and parent-child relationships.