Elk Grove Village, IL—(ENEWSPF)—November 18, 2013. In a December 2013 Pediatrics study, “Using Electronic Health Records to Conduct Children’s Health Insurance Surveillance,” published online Nov. 18, authors found for children with a clinic visit, significant differences exist in the characteristics of uninsured children compared to those with insurance coverage.
In data collected from a network of community health centers in 2010 and 2011, nearly one-third of children who were uninsured at their first visit remain uninsured at subsequent visits. Parents report difficulty in accessing quality insurance programs for their children, and as a result, millions of U.S. children remain uninsured or experience frequent gaps in coverage.
Primary care clinics can use electronic health records to help identify uninsured patients and facilitate enrollment and retention in health insurance, especially for those who are eligible for new programs being implemented. This surveillance can also be used to track patients at risk for having their coverage discontinued, and can help parents who are uncertain about the status of their child’s health insurance coverage.
###
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.
Source: www.aap.org
