One of the needs identified in Pocatello was the development of an 
inservice training for pediatric offices about early intervention and 
the medical home. We wanted to help physicians think about how they 
could improve their practice to ensure a medical home for their young 
patients, especially ones with special needs. We also wanted to increase 
their knowledge about other services available in Pocatello and how to 
access them. 

A survey in 1998 indicated that only 16% of the referrals to early 
intervention were from primary care physicians. After the establishment 
of the Children's Special Health Program task force, 25.9% of the 
referrals now come from physicians. It was determined that our task 
force should form a subcommittee to look into the dissemination of early 
intervention and medical home information to the medical community. 

A retired pediatrician, Dr. Roger Boe and I are members of that 
subcommittee. Dr. Boe obtained a copy of the American Academy of 
Pediatrics medical home curriculum that had an existing slide program. 
That training package was designed to be presented in a daylong 
workshop. Dr. Boe knew that we needed to come up with a brief, one-hour 
presentation to be conducted right in the physician's office. After 
going through the slides, he chose several that he felt best explained 
the medical home philosophy. The task force agreed with Dr. Boe that 
this presentation, coupled with a parent's experience, should be kept to 
one hour or less for doctor groups. My talk at the opening of today's 
webcast is a portion of that presentation. 

After presenting this in-service to the task force, Dr. Boe and I were 
able to take it to the Pocatello Children's Clinic, which is the largest 
pediatric group in Idaho. This group had a mixture of about 15 
physicians, nurses, and administrative staff present. Since then, we 
have also presented our session at several other locations in Idaho. 
Ultimately, Dr. Boe audio taped my portion and has given presentations 
to physician groups in Lewiston, Coeur d' Alene, and Twin Falls. We also 
presented in Idaho Falls. And, did a presentation for the State of Idaho 
section of the American Academy of Pediatricians. The task force is 
currently discussing additional ways of keeping the message of early 
intervention and the medical home at the forefront of Idaho primary care 
providers and their office staff.