The Office of the Future features a variety of products to help pediatricians transition to the patient-centered medical home concept.

In the discussion of health care reform, proposed changes to medical practice often focus on electronic health records (EHR), but the Pediatric Office of the Future — on display during the NCE — will demonstrate that pediatricians have a lot more to look forward to than EHR.

"Everything we are talking about at the Office of the Future is a part of the medical home concept," said Gregg Alexander, DO, a London, Ohio, pediatrician, who works with the AAP Pediatric Office of the Future team. "Everything related to being able to gather information, facilitate patient access to care and share that information in an appropriate fashion — that is all about being able to provide the medical home base for patients to have coordinated care rather than the federated model we often have now."

During this year's NCE, the Office of the Future display in the exhibit hall will demonstrate many tools pediatricians may add to their practices as the move toward implementing the patient-centered medical home concept gathers momentum in 2010, he said.

"This year is a transition toward that change," Dr. Alexander said in discussing the Office of the Future display. "A lot of the focus is on digital technology, like EHRs, but this is not just about electronic health records, but also telemedicine, digital tools for diagnosis, pediatric-friendly tools and office design."

The display will be divided into quadrants, and in each quadrant will be an EHR vendor demonstrating the functionality of electronic health records. It is designed as an educational experience, not a demonstration of products for sale, he said.

"Our vendors have been very cooperative and enthusiastic with the concept," Dr. Alexander said. "They realize they are not going to be showing product per se. For companies whose mission it is to make sales, I think it is wonderful we can get them to do an educational endeavor to help our members understand what is out there and not just sell them something."

The Office of the Future quadrants are:

• Patient Access will demonstrate how patients can have easier access to a practice to share their information. Health care professionals will be able to see how patients can schedule visits online, communicate with the staff, complete forms in advance and download educational materials. Improved patient registration processes and intake will also be highlighted.
• Enhancing Workflow will show how to capture patient data electronically within the office to eliminate the need to manually enter data. Displays will include digital scales and tools for capturing data such as pulse oximetry, blood pressure, temperature and pulse. The quadrant will also demonstrate security, data entry and point-of-care standards.
• Advanced Communications will highlight e-prescribing, telemedicine and pediatric practice Web sites. Prescription tools on display will demonstrate weight-based dosing and warnings about reactions to medications. A highlight of the telemedicine tools is an all-in-one case for school nurses and home health-care providers to enable complete physical exams of patients remotely. Practice Web sites can provide practice-specific and general pediatric health care knowledge electronically to patients without the need for telephone calls.
• Care Management and Quality will focus on registry reporting, health information exchange connectivity, home/remote connectivity, personal health records and electronic resources for patients outside the office. Demonstrations will show how health care professionals can see if patients have received vaccinations, how to add vaccination information to state vaccine registries and how to provide data for health insurance companies and health departments to track disease processes and epidemic patterns.

Exhibit Hours

Saturday, October 17: 12:15 pm – 4:00 pm

Sunday, October 18: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
(President's Reception: 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm)

Monday, October 19: 8:00 am – 2:00 pm