Using a Scribe to Improve Outpatient Physician Care.

Endocrine conditions are generally treated at home. Treatment can be complicated. A major purpose of appointments with the endocrinologist is to learn more about treatment. Often, a personalized plan is needed, depending on one’s daily schedules and activities. As a result, visits to the endocrinologist often involve numerous suggestions and details. Recording all of these details into the medical record can be difficult and time consuming. Two physicians in our Division participated in a pilot project whereby a scribe accompanied the physician during outpatient visits with the purpose of documenting the discussions and details. The results from this pilot project have now been published. The findings indicate that scribes have variable impact on visit times and physician charting burden, with improvements seen in one sub-specialty (developmental-behavioral pediatrics) but not another (pediatric endocrinology) . Patient satisfaction was equally high (>95%) with or without scribes. Two physicians from our Division, Dr. Kanner and Dr. Pesce contributed to the project and published manuscript. The paper is entitled “The Value of Adding Scribe Services to Two Distinct Pediatric Subspecialties in the Era of the Electronic Medical Record” and is being published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics. The manuscript’s abstract can be found at Pubmed (link).

Off To College Class to be Held July 24, 2023, 5-6 pm

Dr. Kanner

Save The Date! Dr. Kanner has announced that she will host our annual Off To College Class on July 24, 2021 at 5-7 pm, via Zoom. Students, parents, future roommates, and any others interested are welcomed to attend. If you are interested, contact us, either through the email link at Dr. Kanner’s webpage (link) or by contacting our diabetes nursing team. The event’s flyer is immediately below.

Advancing Reproductive Health of Youth

The North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) is a non-profit association dedicated to advancing gynecologic care for youth. NASPAG held its 37th annual clinical & research meeting March 24-26 this year in Nashville. Dr. Kanner from our division was one of the Planning Committee members directing the meeting. Fellow Dr. Parra Villasmil from our division also attending the meeting and presented a Roundtable lecture. We thank them for their efforts to improve health.

Dr. Parra Villasmil leading a Roundtable at NASPAG 2023.
Dr. Kanner speaking at NASPAG 2023.

Patient Choice Award Recipients

We are pleased to report that 6 of the pediatric endocrinology providers in our division have received Patient Choice Awards. These awards are given out by UI Health Care to recognize physicians for consistently providing patients with an excellent healthcare experience. The recipient physicians were:

  • Lauren Kanner
  • Katie Larson Ode
  • Julie Osterhaus
  • Liuska Pesce
  • Catherina Pinnaro
  • Mike Tansey

The Award was given to only 174 providers across the entire institution. The Award recognizes those who scored in the top 10% nationally in response to patient surveys asking whether the physician showed concern for patient questions or worries, gave explanations about problem or condition, made efforts to include the patient in care decisions, discussed proposed treatments (options, risks, benefits, etc), and whether they would be likely to recommend the care provider to others. Our division is fortunate to have these Award winning physicians on our team. We thank each of them for their wonderful work. Find more about the awards at this link.

Patient Choice Award Recipients

We are pleased to report that 6 of the pediatric endocrinology physicians in our division have received Patient Choice Awards. These awards are given out by UI Health Care to recognize physicians for consistently providing patients with an excellent healthcare experience. The recipient physicians were:

  • Lauren Kanner
  • Katie Larson Ode
  • Liuska Pesce
  • Catherina Pinnaro
  • Mike Tansey
  • Eva Tsalikian

The Award was given to only 156 providers across the entire institution. The Award recognizes those who scored in the top 10% nationally in response to patient surveys asking whether the physician showed concern for patient questions or worries, gave explanations about problem or condition, made efforts to include the patient in care decisions, discussed proposed treatments (options, risks, benefits, etc), and whether they would be likely to recommend the care provider to others. Our division is fortunate to have these Award winning physicians on our team. We thank each of them for their wonderful work. Find more about the awards at this link.

Dr. Kanner talks at the Healthy LifeStars “Preventing Childhood Obesity” Conference

Dr. Kanner

Today the Iowa Institute of Public Health Research and Policy help its 3rd annual Healthy Lifestars Conference. This year’s topic was “Improving Health Outcomes Through Preventing Childhood Obesity”. Our division’s Dr. Kanner spoke at the conference on her area of expertise. Her talk was entitled “The Impact of Adolescent Polycystic Ovary Syndrome on Obesity and the Accompanying Lifestyle and Medicine Management Requirements“. This is one of her areas of clinical expertise. She heads the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital pediatric polycystic ovary syndrome clinic.

Off To College Class to be Held July 14, 2021, 5-6 pm

Dr. Kanner

Save The Date! Dr. Lauren Kanner has announced that she will host our annual Off To College Class on July 14, 2021 at 5-6 pm. In past years, the class has been held in person, but like in 2020 this year will be held via Zoom. Students, parents, future roommates, and any others interested are welcomed to attend. If you are interested, contact us, either through the email link at Dr. Kanner’s webpage (link) or by contacting our diabetes nursing team.

Off To College Class to be held July 15, 2020, 5-6 pm

Dr. Kanner

Save The Date! Dr. Lauren Kanner has announced that she will host our annual Off To College Class on July 15, 2020 at 5-6 pm. In past years, the class has been held in person, but this year will be held via Zoom. Students, parents, future roommates, and any others interested are welcomed to attend. If you are interested, contact us, either through the email link at the bottom of Dr. Kanner’s webpage (link) or by contacting our diabetes nursing team.

Dr. Kanner to Co-chair Planning Workshops for an Upcoming National Meeting Focused on Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecology

Dr. Kanner

By invitation, Dr. Lauren Kanner has been installed as the Workshops Co-Chair on the Program Committee for the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) 2021 Annual Clinical & Research Meeting. In this role, she will help plan and set the agenda for the workshops to occur at this national meeting. She also is now the pediatric endocrine liason for the Fellow Research Consortium of NASPAG. She remains a member of the NASPAG education committee, a role she has maintained since April 2018. Thanks to Dr. Kanner for her hard work in this important area.