American Academy of Pediatrics Issues New Report on Military Children

 

Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva

A physician with a juris doctor and advanced degrees in business, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has worked in the health care field for over three decades. Since 2012, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has served as associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

A recent report issued by AAP provides updated recommendations for physicians who care for children of military families. The report, which appears in the January 2019 issue of the journal Pediatrics, updates 2013 guidelines that identify best practices for meeting the physical and mental health needs of military children who receive care in both military and civilian medical centers.

According to the report, military children move geographic locations as frequently as every two years. Research has shown that these frequent moves can lead to an increase in mental health encounters and emergency department visits. Studies have also shown that some military children are at higher risk of maltreatment and substance abuse.

To better support military children, the recent AAP report recommends that physicians work closely with military programs and community-based resources that help families of deployed service members. The report also recommends that physicians establish clinical processes within their own practices to identify military children and document their parents’ deployment and mental health histories. More information about the report and other recent work from AAP is available at www.aap.org.

Common Causes of Sleeplessness in Children

 

Sleeplessness
Image: webmd.com

Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva functions as the associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva also serves as a professor of pediatrics, critical care, and sleep medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Children can experience sleeplessness or insomnia for several reasons, ranging from unhealthy lifestyles to more complex medical issues. In certain cases, insomnia in children may be caused by something as simple as poor sleep habits that are upheld by parents or guardians. A child who does not exercise regularly and drinks soda or other caffeinated beverages shortly before bedtime will likely experience a myriad of sleep-related health issues. Similarly, children should have a fixed sleep schedule, as opposed to being able to go to bed and wake up at their discretion.

At the other end of the spectrum, a healthy, well-raised child can still experience difficulty sleeping due to underlying medical conditions, such as sleep apnea, also known as sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Children with severe SDB will develop obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition where most or all of the child’s airway becomes blocked, resulting in loud snoring, unrestful sleep, and constant waking up throughout the night.

Typical symptoms of insomnia in children include sudden mood swings, difficulty with memory, and a decreased attention span. If an adult believes a child is struggling with sleeplessness, he or she should discuss the situation with a trusted pediatrician.

AAP Recommends Flu Shots

 

Flu Shots
Image: webmd.com

A distinguished pediatric professional with more than three decades of experience, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva serves as associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). In this role, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva helps support policy initiatives and oversees education outreach efforts.

The AAP recently recommended that children over the age of six months get the flu shot. The severity of the 2017-2018 flu season saw the most pediatric deaths in recent memory. Vaccination remains the most effective method of preventing the flu, a disease that can have a devastating effect on even healthy children. The vaccine also provides “herd immunity,” in that it protects immunocompromised children who, for one reason or another, can’t receive the vaccine.

Nasal sprays are also an option, though in recent years they have not been as effective against the A/H1N1 strain of the infection. In the interest of having the most people vaccinated, the AAP and the Centers for Disease Control support the use of nasal sprays, but still urge the shot as the most comprehensive form of vaccination.

To read the AAP’s recommendations in full, visit pediatrics.aappublications.org.

Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy

 

Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy
Image: nichq.org

An experienced public health professional and senior medical administrator, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva functions as the associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. As part of his work with the AAP, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has served as the project director and a principal investigator for the Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy project.

Conducted in partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation, the Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth with Epilepsy project was undertaken with financial support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration. From 2004 to 2008, the project worked to improve access to comprehensive and coordinated pediatric epilepsy health care services in underserved areas of California, Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oregon, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Part of the project’s mission was to apply the advancements of the adult epilepsy Project ECHO within the pediatric setting. Short for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, ECHO was developed to treat chronic and complex cases of epilepsy in various rural and underserved populations of New Mexico.

About the SCCM-Weil Research Trust – Society of Critical Care Medicine

SCCM-Weil Research Trust
Image: sccm.org

A professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva also serves as the medical director of quality initiatives and the director of subspecialty pediatrics with the Academy. An active member in his professional field, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva belongs to several medical organizations, including the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM).

Open to professionals who provide care to injured and critically ill patients, the Society of Critical Care Medicine is dedicated to promoting the highest quality care in the field of intensive care. To ensure patients receive the best care possible, the society offers fundamental courses so health care institutions can evaluate and improve the skills of their clinicians, fellows, residents, and students. As an additional resource for intensive care units, the SCCM sponsors the SCCM-Weil Research Trust.

An extension of the preexisting SCCM-Weil Research Grant program, the trust funds research grants awarded by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Named for the society’s founder, the SCCM-Weil Research Trust is awarded each year at its Critical Care Congress. Grant applicants must be current SCCM members in good standing and may designate a SCCM mentor if the applicant is within 10 years of his or her training completion date.

Successful applications are judged for their approach, significance, innovation, institutional support, and overall experience. Funding grants may be as much as $50,000, and indirect budget costs may not exceed 10 percent of the grant total.

Children’s Hospital Association – Pediatric Quality Award

Children’s Hospital Association (CHA)
Image: childrenshospitals.org

 

Since 2012, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has served as associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A medical director, educator, and physician for more than 20 years, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva also works on many committees and councils, including the Council on Quality for the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI).

The NACHRI is one of the governing bodies in charge of the  Children’s Hospital Association (CHA), which represents more than 200 children’s hospitals in the United States. The association is committed to exemplary care and offers many services and programs relating to quality improvement and measurement.

Hospitals under the association’s aegis are eligible for the Pediatric Quality Award, presented yearly in recognition of superior advances in medical facilities. Award applicants submit quality improvement project reports in one of four categories: clinical care, delivery system transformation, patient safety and harm reduction, and waste reduction or improved efficiency.

The entries are judged on a number of criteria including demonstration of significant improvement in their area of focus, the careful documentation of the project, and the project’s ability to yield similar effects should it be adopted by other institutions. Four category winners are selected for the Pediatric Quality Award, following a two-phase evaluation. The overall winner, selected from the category winners, is announced at the CHA’s annual Quality and Safety Conference. Category winners are also invited to present their projects at the conference.

Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment Commits to New Focus

 

Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment
Image: mcw.edu

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) associate executive director Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has implemented several new initiatives at the organization, such as establishing the Department for Subspecialty Pediatrics. Outside his responsibilities for the AAP, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva serves a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In June 2016, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) committed to donating more than $20 million to behavioral health issues throughout the state.

The MCW will distribute the funds to 10 community coalitions through the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin (AHW) Endowment, an endowment stewarded by the MCW for the purpose of improving the health of Wisconsin residents. Community coalitions consist of approximately 12 organizations each spread across 26 counties. The first year of grant distribution will focus on the training of coalitions and medical personnel and continue to promote collaboration between behavioral healthcare organizations in the ongoing years.

The awarding of grants to community coalitions marks a shift in the way the MCW’s endowment management processes. It took a more traditional approach to endowment management in previous years and awarded grants to individual nonprofits and public entities. While the AHW Endowment will continue to fund smaller projects with specific goals, it will extend support to more long-term commitments and focus on initiatives with the potential to make necessary changes in the delivery of health care services.

AMA’s Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement

 

American Medical Association
Image: ama-assn.org

Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva is an experienced medical executive and pediatric expert currently serving as the Associate Executive Director for the American Academy of Pediatrics, a professional membership association. Board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva is also involved in professional organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA) where he is a member of the Executive Committee for Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement.

Founded in 1847, the AMA is a professional association for physicians and medical students. The largest association of its kind, the AMA promotes quality in public health and advocates for causes in support of its membership. The association also sets standards and shares knowledge for excellence in the field, publishing the Journal of the American Medical Association and implementing the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement (PCPI).

The PCPI is a physician-led project that develops and implements innovative best practices in medicine. Founded more than ten years ago, the project’s goal is to enhance patient safety and the quality of care they receive. The PCPI is also heavily involved in the continued development of electronic health records, and its membership includes over 200 organizations and over 80 medical societies.

ECHO Talks: Sound Waves From The Field – Ramesh Sachdeva

Ramesh Sachdeva, MD, PhD, MBA, JD, Assoc. Executive Director of the American Academy of Pediatrics, does an ECHO Talk at the MetaECHO Conference, which occurred September 11th-13th, 2014.