Schools, health systems partner to integrate services for chronically-ill children

School and health systems in at least three states are taking steps to better integrate their services to ensure that children who have chronic conditions receive the coordinated care they need, according to a Kaiser Health News article. As part of these partnerships--currently underway in Delaware, Miami and Beaverton, Oregon--school health professionals gain access to the electronic health records of students. "Chronic disease management is what school nurses spend most of their time doing," Carolyn Duff, president of the National Association of School Nurses, told the publication. "We do care for students in emergencies, but we spend more time planning to avoid emergencies." The problem is most school nurses don't have the most current information about the student's health. The new initiative gives school nurses who receive parents' approval read-only access to the electronic health records of students who have complex medical conditions or special needs. Article