Published online March 1, 2007
PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 3 March 2007, pp. 654-655 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-3267)
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Payment for Telephone Care: From Policy to Practice

Randall S. Sterkel, MD, FAAP
Department of Pediatrics
St Louis Children's Hospital
St Louis, MO 63141

To the Editor.—

I read with interest the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement titled "Payment for Telephone Care."1 It is not often that policy statements strike at the core of real problems facing rank-and-file pediatricians. Past AAP Annual Leadership Forum resolutions urged the academy to take a firm stance and deem it appropriate and ethical to charge for telephone care provided by pediatricians. This policy statement made that case eloquently and comprehensively.

Our society's increasing desire and expectation for access to care at all hours will continue to expand the importance of efficient, high-quality telephone care. Yet, what began as an occasional courtesy on the part of the physician has become a consuming, and almost completely uncompensated, demand on the part of patients and payers.

It is regrettable that although it provided a compelling rationale for payment, the policy statement gave little specific information on how to implement its recommendations.

Thus, it was with some relief that I found the "Payment for Telephone Care" toolkit on the AAP Web site (www.aap.org/moc/index.cfm?view=news [requires AAP member login]). This extensive document provides the specific, practical information necessary for general pediatric offices to operationalize the new policy. Each recommendation is addressed in detail, with helpful suggestions and useful tools such as letter templates and sample documentation forms. I found this online document to be one of the most complete and timely aids to policy implementation produced by the academy.

Compensation is appropriate, ethical, and essential to maintain telephone access to pediatricians and assure the quality and safe delivery of telephone care. The recent AAP policy statement outlined the justification, and their toolkit provides the vital bridge from policy to practice. It now falls to us, the practicing pediatricians, to actualize our goals.

REFERENCE

  1. American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Telephone Care and Committee on Child Health Financing. Payment for telephone care. Pediatrics. 2006;118 :1768 –1773[Abstract/Free Full Text]
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2007 by the American Academy of Pediatrics




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