Lovelace

Lovelace participated in New Mexico's Senate Joint Memorial Task Force to exam 

ine appropriateness and timeliness of referrals to the Family Infant Toddler program,

New Mexico's early intervention program. This 35 member task force included

medical personnel, Family Infant Toddler program providers, parents of children

with developmental delays, advocates, relevant state personnel, and Lovelace's med 

ical director. The task force identified barriers

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to appropriate and early referrals,

developed strategies for addressing those barriers, and prioritized strategies.  The

task force identified four major outcomes and a number of strategies to address each

of the outcomes.

Outcome #1:  Training and information for medical providers

Train physicians about how to refer children to the FIT program and the benefits

of early intervention at Grand Rounds, during residency training, and in their

offices.

Develop medical society  position statements  endorsing early intervention.

Outcome #2:  A statewide public awareness campaign

Create a campaign directed to the general public to provide information on early

brain development from birth to age three and the importance of intervention if a

child has a developmental delay.

Outcome #3:  Developmental screenings and referrals to the FIT program

Promote use of developmental screening tools at medical providers' offices.

Clarify and streamline the FIT referral process.

Emphasize that a referral to the FIT program is a referral for a  developmental

evaluation  and that the child may or may not need ongoing FIT program services.

Recommend modifications to the Medicaid Early and Periodic Screening and

Diagnostic Testing to emphasize child development.

Explore reimbursement possibilities for physicians to conduct developmental

screening.

Promote existing databases to identify children with conditions that place them

at high risk for developmental delays.

Pilot use of a FIT Developmental Specialist placed in medical offices to conduct

developmental screening.

Outcome #4:  Effective communication with providers

Encourage input from medical providers on FIT services.

Follow up with findings after referrals are received.

Recommend to Governor's office that a representative of the Pediatric Society be

added to the Interagency Coordinating Council for infants and toddlers.

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A list of barriers identified by Lovelace is available in the online toolkit at www.chcs.org.

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