Inaugural Meeting Recap

By Peg Orcutt-Tuddenham
President

The Inaugural meeting of the Society for Pediatric Urgent Care took place at the Hilton Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati September16-18. Attendees were treated to an elegant setting and fabulous educational offerings.

The Leadership Summit preceded the Annual Meeting. Designed as a small interactive session aimed at decision-makers in pediatric urgent care, four topics were addressed. The session “sold out” and the room was packed.  Speakers engaged the audience in intense information sharing as questions and audience interaction were encouraged. Topics included a discussion of the national and state medical financial and regulatory environment, improvement science, medical legal  regulatory conundrums, and experiences starting a new or expanding an existing facility.

Thursday morning the general session started with a vision overview and continued with talks on efficiency, updates on  “what’s new” that can change our day to day practice, tips for handling uncomfortable situations (both medical and social), and opportunities to peruse the posters and interact with industry sponsors.

Thursday afternoon was devoted to small group problem solving sessions. Groups of 12-15 were given a short didactic overview, then assigned a scenario to solve using the information provided. One member from each group presented to all the participants as a whole. These sessions proved to be immensely successful as new material was digested while folks from different environments around the country shared their views and experiences. The four topics discussed were triage and transfer, simulation as a planning tool, flow and demand management, and sports medicine “back to play."

A final didactic session discussed APRNs in an emerging specialty and provided a great springboard for conversation regarding the roles of advance practice nurses and physician assistants. A social hour followed by dinner at area restaurants capped a very intense but hugely satisfying day.

Friday morning began with a lecture which dispelled many myths about retail clinics, introduced us to the concept of the medical neighborhood and laid the groundwork for cooperative relationships that can result in good care for children who do not choose where they are taken for care. The rest of the morning was comprised of hands-on learning stations and included a suturing workshop, sports medicine: the knee and ankle exam, dental trauma, simulation, c-spine immobilization and splinting, useful medical apps for smart phone and tablets, and new techniques and toys for foreign body removal.

At the conclusion of the meeting many, many participants echoed the same sentiment, ”It is so wonderful to finally talk to someone else who does what we do.”

This meeting has established a firm foundation for future educational offerings. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 21-24, 2016, location yet to be determined, but will likely be in Florida or Georgia.