Results of April 29, 2010 Planning Day

The Kern County Medically Vulnerable Infant Workgroup held a day-long planning session on Thursday, April 29 from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kern County Department of Public Health Services.

Our objectives for the day were to:

1. Define the role of a county-wide care coordinator for Medically Vulnerable Infants (MVI) and their families.
2. Identify a case definition for a Medically Vulnerable Infant.
3. Identify the number of potential cases to be coordinated annually.
4. Define the logistics of coordination – what MOUs, referral and tracking protocols will be needed.
5. Identify what and how case information will need to be tracked.

Results: We had 50 attendees who participated in a sometimes challenging but very productive day because:

1. We were able to have so many new people from key organizations join the conversation and help further establish the care coordination of MVI as a priority in Kern County;

2. We were able to summarize the research conducted to date;

3. We saved an estimated additional year’s worth of monthly meetings to bring a broader group of providers up to speed regarding the need, benefits and strategies for care coordination;

4. We learned from Kirt Emery, Kern County epidemiologist, how to track Kern County MVI births and where some of the greatest need exists in the county for parental support services;

5. We broke into small groups and learned the various perspectives of MVI needs and categories coming from our three major groups of participants:

a. Medical providers (including NICU staff)
b. Developmental/educational providers
c. Community service providers

Next steps are to quickly move forward with what was learned to implement the 90 day pilot beginning in June. To learn more or to participate in any future meetings, please contact Marc Thibault at marc.thibault.llc@gmail.com or call (949) 842-5671.