Child Abuse & Neglect
Quality Improvement/Patient Safety
Wellness and Well-being
Hank Puls, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Kansas City, Kansas, United States
Barbara Chaiyachati, MD/PhD
Assistant Professor
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Session
Description: Uncertainty is omnipresent in medical practice and can be challenging to both quantitate and communicate. Quantifying and communicating uncertainty is a vitally important component of diagnostic excellence (i.e., the optimal process to attain an accurate and precise explanation about a patient’s condition that is equitable, timely, cost-effective, convenient, and as respectful of family autonomy as possible). Uncertainty exists among cases of suspected child abuse and neglect throughout the continuum of care, including the diagnostic process, thresholds for reporting to Child Protective Services, and how best to development and implement safety plans for children at risk. Clinicians, regardless of specialty, also face the challenge of how to convey uncertainty to colleagues, caregivers, law enforcement, and the courts.
This session will advance participants’ objective understanding of uncertainty. Invited speakers will not only identify challenges related to uncertainty, but also provide solutions and approaches to advance participants comfort and skills with regard to uncertainty. Session will include academic discussion of uncertainty within a framing concept of diagnostic excellence, lived-experience insights in grappling with uncertainty as a general and child abuse pediatrician, and skills for communicating uncertainty effectively, including to patients and families.
Speaker: Trisha L. Marshall, MD, MSc (she/her/hers) – Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Speaker: Cindy W. Christian, MD (she/her/hers) – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Speaker: Kate Nelson, MD PhD (she/her/hers) – The Hospital for Sick Children