Video: Knock on Wood| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Lupus Nephritis
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

New Toolkits Ease Pediatric-to-Adult-Care Transitions for Rheumatology Patients

Kurt Ullman  |  Issue: November 2016  |  November 16, 2016

The transition from pediatric to adult care can be a rocky one. For many rheumatology patients, any problems in the move can cause gaps in care. To address this issue, the ACR joined the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Pediatric to Adult Care Transitions Initiative.

The Initiative is a project spearheaded by the ACP’s Council of Subspecialty Societies, in collaboration with the Got Transition (GT)/Center for Health Care Transition Improvement, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health, the Society of General Internal Medicine and the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

As part of the Initiative, the ACP asked various subspecialties to develop toolkits specific to their needs. The ACR responded to that request by forming the ACR Transition Work Group. ACR and ARHP members with experience in adult and/or pediatric rheumatology met to work out what was needed to be included in the kits.

“There is a robust amount of literature suggesting that we don’t do a particularly good job of preparing young adults with complex medical conditions to enter the adult medical sphere,” says Stacy P. Ardoin, MD, MHS, associate professor of clinical medicine at The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus and chair of the ACR’s Special Committee on Pediatric Rheumatology. Dr. Ardoin led the ACR Transition Work Group. “Studies across many specialties, including rheumatology, show that less than half of the time, these families get the information they need to successfully complete the transition.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Size of the Problem

Of the roughly 18 million people the ACP calls “emerging adults,” about one in four has a chronic medical condition, and in many cases, they don’t understand the nature of their conditions, which can result in poor adherence or gaps in care. If this happens, unnecessary complications may have occurred by the time they reestablish contact with their new rheumatologist.

Dr. Ardoin

Dr. Ardoin

“One of the things about the Initiative that is especially unique is that it [originated] from the adult side,” said Dr. Ardoin. “In the past, efforts to focus on the transition process improvements had been primarily initiated from the pediatric side.”

Overall, the Initiative strived to put in place an evidence-based model with six core elements. These included suggested transition policies, tracking and monitoring of the patient through the process, assessing patient readiness for the change, planning and transfer of care and completion of the hand-off.

Toolkit Elements

To help ease the pediatric-to-adult care transition, the Initiative decided to create a specialized toolkit with at least three elements. Among them was a transition-readiness assessment tool for the pediatric team, a medical summary and transfer record to standardize communication between the pediatric and adult teams, and a self-care assessment for the patient to complete so the adult team could assess gaps in their knowledge and address those issues going forward.

Page: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page
Share: 

Filed under:ConditionsPediatric ConditionsPractice Support Tagged with:American College of Physicianspatient carePediatricPractice ManagementRheumatic Diseaserheumatologytoolkittransition

Related Articles

    A Team Approach Improves the Transition from Pediatric to Adult Care

    April 17, 2021

    Nearly all adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with chronic pediatric rheumatic disease require transfer of care to an adult rheumatologist, yet almost half are lost from care at the time of transfer.1-3 Although sometimes framed as a discrete event, transition refers to the longitudinal process, often spanning several years, in which AYAs and their families…

    New Kits Address Pediatric-to-Adult-Care Transition

    October 5, 2016

    The transition from pediatric to adult care can be a rocky one. For many rheumatology patients, any problems in the move can cause gaps in care. To address this issue, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) joined the American College of Physicians’ (ACP) Pediatric to Adult Care Transitions Initiative. The Initiative is a project spearheaded…

    Rheum After 5: Dr. Stacy Ardoin & Mr. Mom

    December 18, 2019

    In 2004, Stacy Ardoin, MD, MHS, became pregnant with twins during the second year of her fellowship at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C. Although she and her husband, Adrien, were thrilled by the news, the astronomical cost of day care for two infants was a specter. At the time, Adrien managed a book­store…

    Tips for Transitioning Patients from Pediatric to Adult Rheumatology Care

    October 14, 2021

    Approximately 50% of young adult patients with childhood-onset rheumatic diseases become lost to follow-up within the first year of transferring to adult rheumatology care, mirroring the statistics of other subspecialties.1,2 One of the challenges cited most consistently by young adult patients and their families relates to differences between rheumatology care delivery in the pediatric and…

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences