Thank you for your interest in the Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative (PPC). Below you will find details, including benefits and requirements, as well as a link to register.
Over the past four years, with support from the NJ Governor's Office and funding from the NJ Department of Children and Families, Hackensack Meridian Health, along with Cooper University Health Care, Atlantic Health Systems, and other partner hospitals, has successfully established the Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative (PPC) across 20 counties in New Jersey. The ninth Hub, in Essex County, is managed by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, ensuring that every county in the state has improved access to pediatric mental/behavioral health care.
As a mental/behavioral health and substance use consultative and referral support program, the PPC aims to improve the comfort and competence of pediatric primary care clinicians to screen, identify and care manage their patients with mental/behavioral health concerns. Participating pediatric primary care and specialty care providers now have quick access to mental/behavioral health consultative and referral services for the children and families in their care. The program is available for children and adolescents up to age 18 (or up to 21, if patient is still being seen by the pediatric practices) and requires the primary care provider (PCP) to implement universal mental/behavioral health and substance use screening at each well visit. Below you will find a list of the counties and their corresponding PPC Hubs, as well as the leadership teams for each.
2019 NJAAP Champion for Children Video
At the 2019 Children’s Ball, NJAAP was honored to recognize the Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative leadership at Hackensack Meridian Health for their dedication and tireless efforts to make mental/behavioral health care accessible for children across our state through behavioral health integration in pediatric primary care. Under their leadership over the past four years, pediatric practices have screened over 130,000 patients for mental/behavioral health disorders, and mental health consultation services have been provided to more than 7,000 patients of participating pediatric primary care providers.
Please join us in extending congratulations to Drs. Hanbury, Solhkhah, and Kairys!
Meet the Hub Teams
- Hackensack Meridian Hub @ Jersey Shore University Medical Center (Monmouth and Ocean Counties)
- Peter D. Ganime, MD
- Kristine Lubas, LCSW
- Lauren Daly, LAC, NCC
- Vanessa Entrekin, LCSW
- Lisa Berbig, LPC, ACS, NCC
- Sue A. Doran, CSW
- Hackensack Meridian Hub @ Saint Peter’s Family Health Center (Mercer and Middlesex Counties)
- Theodore Petti, MD
- Kristine Lubas, LCSW
- Marzena Kobrzynski, LCSW, DRCC
- Marie Leskaukas, MA, NCC
- Cooper Hub @ Cooper University Medical Center (Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties)
- Rama Rao Gogineni, MD
- Melanie Pierce, MSW, LSW
- Honey DelVecchio, BSW, CSW
- Cooper Hub @ Pennsville (Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Salem Counties)
- Rama Rao Gogineni, MD
- Melanie Pierce, MSW, LSW
- Honey DelVecchio, BSW, CSW
- Atlantic Health Hub @ Newton Medical Center (Hunterdon, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren Counties)
- Jennifer Abramson, MD
- Beth Aymar, LCSW
- Jennifer Atanasio
- Nicole Gordron, LPC, NCC, ACS
- Amy Giorgi, LSW
- Atlantic Health Hub @ Goryeb Children's Hospital (Morris and Passaic Counties)
- Jennifer Abramson, MD
- Beth Aymar, LCSW
- Miranda Whitney, MSW
- Amy Giorgi, LSW
- Hackensack Meridian Hub @ Hackensack University Medical Center (Bergen County)
- Naomi Ambalu, DO
- Jose L. Posos, LPC, NCC
- Shira Kravitz, LCSW
- Hackensack Meridian Hub @ Palisades Medical Center (Hudson and Union Counties)
- Naomi Ambalu, DO
- Jose L. Posos, LPC, NCC
- Csilla Greiner, LPC, NCC
- Kimberly Miller, BA
The PPC Hubs support pediatric clinicians in integrating mental/behavioral health and substance use screening, referral, and care coordination into their practices. The PPC Hubs provide pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists, and pediatric clinicians with quick access to psychiatric consultation, and facilitate referrals for children/families in need of mental/behavioral health and substance use resources and support. PPC Hub benefits include:
- Timely Access to Psychiatry Consultation - for appropriate cases, the PPC Hub CAP may see a child/adolescent for a one-time psychiatric evaluation at no charge to the patient.
- Consultative Support to assist you with diagnostic clarification, medication management, and care coordination by a team of behavioral health professionals, including a child/adolescent psychiatrist.
- Care Coordination to support patient/family engagement with appropriate community mental/behavioral health treatment services.
- Continuous education opportunities to address common pediatric mental/behavioral health issues via monthly webinars and an optional ABP-approved MOC part 4 Mental Health Collaborative program (annual, with Fall-timed launch), led by the NJ Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (NJAAP).
In order to participate in your designated PPC Hub, pediatric clinicians must complete the following:
- Conduct universal mental/behavioral health and substance use screening, with the PSC-35, Y-PSC-37, SWYC, and CRAFFT 2.1* validated, standardized screening tools
- Submit weekly electronic screening logs to track screening
- Complete initial practice demographic survey and annual survey on screening practices
All PPC Hub participants will receive access to our monthly webinar series featuring didactic and case-based presentations by subject matter experts, including quarterly “Curbside Consult with a CAP” webinars, featuring PPC Hub Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists.
Upon registration, participants will receive a welcome email with instructions for getting started, including access to an introductory webinar on implementing mental/behavioral health screening, as well as the tools and resources needed to begin implementing the program.
* Pediatric Symptom Checklist, Survey of Wellbeing of Young Children, CRAFFT
Check back in Summer 2020 for more information on the next cycle of the MOC Part 4 Program, anticipated to start Fall 2020.
If a clinician registers for the Pediatric Psychiatry Collaborative, they are also eligible to participate in NJAAP’s ABP-approved MOC Part 4 Program, the Mental Health Collaborative. Participation is optional. The program is aimed at helping clinicians increase the use of age-appropriate mental/behavioral health and substance use screening tools, anticipatory guidance, referrals and care coordination to support the early detection of mental/behavioral health issues, and improvement of integrated health care in the pediatric primary care and specialty care setting.
By participating in NJAAP’s Mental Health Collaborative MOC Program, you will receive:
- Training and hands-on technical assistance on mental/behavioral health and substance use screening implementation
- Clinician resources and toolkits
- Opportunities to network with colleagues, subject matter experts, and community organizations
25 ABP Part 4 Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points upon program completion
All participants in NJAAP’s Mental Health Collaborative MOC Part 4 Program are required to:
- Designate a 3-person multidisciplinary practice Quality Improvement (QI) team
- Attend one (1) in-person opening Learning Session and one (1) virtual closing Learning Session (opportunities to earn additional CME credits & MOC Part 2 points)
- Submit monthly data via AAP’s online date system - 20 patient charts per cycle
- Submit monthly progress reports on Quality Improvement goals
- Participate in at least two monthly webinars (either live or archived, with the opportunity to earn additional CME credits & MOC Part 2 points), and in two virtual case presentation/technical assistance video conference calls
- Participate in one on-site office visit with NJAAP Quality Improvement team member
- Complete pre and post surveys