• AAPP is engaging KSA (Kurt Salmon Associates http://hsd.kurtsalmon.com to assist the AAPP partners and affiliates who provide or facilitate specialized pediatric care for Alaskan children and their families to discuss current and anticipated subspecialty services delivery and program development.
• The focus in on a 5 + year perspective.
• The primary goal is to provide complex quality care as close to home as possible. For example, currently many Alaskan children with special needs and their families need to leave Alaska for extended periods of time for their care. In addition, it is common for children in Alaskan communities to have to travel to Anchorage for initial evaluation or for follow-up of their special needs.
• An additional goal is to be sure to provide a timely response to urgent specialized care, i.e., "a medical safety net for our children and their families". For example, many children with complex specialized illnesses are fragile and can have extremely rapid onset of complications requiring urgent specialized care. Travel long distances with-in Alaska and especially outside Alaska poses additional risk and potential poor outcomes.
• The process of this consultation will engage the AAPP partners and affiliates as the primary stakeholders and lead to a consensus opinion and a blueprint, accepted as a shared vision, of what we as a community of providers wish for our Alaskan children and their families regarding subspecialty services delivery and program development.
• We expect that this shared vision will assist recruitment and retention of needed specialized health care providers.
• We expect that this shared vision will assist in understanding the financial challenges and facilitate financial strategies. For example, it is assumed that state or philanthropic support will always be required to realize complex quality care as close to home and to provide "a medical safety net for our children and their families". It is hoped that articulating a consensus opinion and a blueprint will help others with financial resources to understand the need and to themselves join as financial partners of the shared vision
• Statewide Vision for Pediatric Specialty Care Presentation - 2008

To provide input or data, contact:

• Jon Lyon, MD, Chair - bro ''at'' alaska ''dot'' net or lyon ''at'' LaTouchePediatrics ''dot'' net
• Colleen Green, Logistics Coordinator - Colleen ''dot'' aapp ''at'' live ''dot'' com
• Gail Pass - gail ''dot'' aapp ''at'' live ''dot'' com

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