General Practice Guidance & Resources

• Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report -- Updated weekly

• Alabama's COVID-19 Dashboard Hub

• ADPH Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19

• Email national AAP questions on COVID-19 here

• CDC's Information for Healthcare Professionals page: https://bit.ly/3aOiWKW

• ADPH Coronavirus Resources for Healthcare Providers page

• AAP Discussion Board on COVID-19

• AAP Critical Updates on COVID-19

• AAP Pediatric Practice Management Tips During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• AAP COVID-19 Clinical Guidance Q&A (updated 01/06/2021)

• AAP New Interim Guidance to help pediatricians triage and manage acute illnesses (August 27, 2020)

• Child abuse guidance by Michael Taylor, MD, FAAP, Division Chief of Child Abuse Pediatrics at UAB Pediatrics

COVID-19 Vaccine

• Becoming COVID-19 vaccine providers in Alabama -- The Alabama Department of Public Health has indicated that pediatricians are free to become providers and vaccinate adults in the Phases currently approved. View the presentation Dr. Skinner conducted through Pediatric Management Institute regarding how to approach COVID vaccination in your practice (her portion begins at 01:06)

• The Medical Association's Vaccine Toolkit for Physicians, with instructions for signing up with the Alabama Department of Public Health to become a COVID vaccine provider (see pages 9-10).

• Interim Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Children and Adolescents (February 2, 2021)

• AAP COVID-19 Vaccination FAQs

Governmental Orders & Legislation

• Governor Kay Ivey issued an amended Safer at Home order on Thursday, January 21 extending the statewide mask requirement until Friday, March 5 at 5 p.m. View the order here.

COVID-19 and Schools

• ADPH Back to School Toolkit (updated 12/11/20)

• HIPAA Reminder: As a reminder, providers can share PHI (i.e. COVID test results) with school nurses as heatlhcare providers under HIPAA. Please see HHS information here. The same holds true, of course, for public health agencies (Alabama Department of Public Health). See HHS information here.

• Alabama Chapter-AAP has updated its algorithms for both school nurses and outside healthcare providers on how to care for students who are identified by the schools as either having symptoms concerning for COVID-19 or who have had exposure to COVID-19. The healthcare provider algorithm is designed for pediatricians/family physicians to use in their offices when a student has been dismissed from school to evaluate the child for a need to test for COVID-19 and to help determine a diagnosis for them. From there, the algorithm will give the doctor a clear recommendation on how to counsel the child and their caregivers on the plan for the student to return to school. Click here for the healthcare provider algorithm.

• The school nurse algorithm was developed for school nurses to use to clearly identify which children should be dismissed from school based on risk factors of exposure (in school or at home) or based on complaints that students or their parents share with their school nurse.

• COVID-19 Guidance for Safe Schools

• ALAAP sets recommendations for school-based activities related to football during COVID-19 pandemic -- August 2020

Practice Management & Financial Resources

• HHS Provider Relief - deadline to apply for the Medicaid and CHIP Targeted Allocation has been extended to 9/13/20! Now, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgeons who received an automatic payment from the prior rounds of Medicare-based funding, no matter how small, can now apply for a second payment from the Provider Relief Fund. Here are the updated links: To apply: https://cares.linkhealth.com/#/ To self-attest to the funds: https://covid19.linkhealth.com/#/step/1 Optum has a very helpful step-by-step guide: https://chameleoncloud.io/review/2977-5ea0af98f0fd0/prod**

• Payment Protection Program information DEADLINE EXTENDED to AUGUST 8.

• AAP’s frequently asked questions about the Provider Relief Fund

• HHS’s Provider Relief Fund landing page

• HHS’s Frequently Asked Questions

• The Enhanced Provider Relief Fund Payment Portal

• AAP letter to HHS advocating for direct funding to pediatricians through CARES Act. -- April 28, 2020

• Pediatric Management Institute white paper: The Uncertain Future Of Pediatric Practices As The COVID19 Pandemic Evolves

• Small Business Guidance for Pediatric Practices

• CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY LOANS Small Business Guide and Checklist

Payors & Telehealth

• Blue Cross has extended its telehealth coverage through December 31. Click here to find out where to find BCBS telehealth information on Provider Access.

• The Alabama Medicaid Agency has issued numerous alerts extending its telehealth policy on a rolling basis or through the end of the national emergency, whichever comes first. Alabama Medicaid has also expanded codes that may now be covered for various pediatric visits, thanks to advocacy by the Chapter through its April 9 letter.

• Alabama Medicaid COVID-19 Alerts

• National AAP Coding Guidance (please refer to state-specific guidance)

• AAP Guidance on Providing Pediatric Ambulatory Services via Telehealth During COVID-19 — January 6, 2021

• Updated Alabama coding/payor guidance - - March 27, 2020

Triage & Protocols

• Updated guidelines on testing from ADPH - March 23, 2020

• Updated list of testing centers here.

• Alabama Department of Public Health establishes statewide hotline and direct e-mail for COVID-19 information - March 24, 2020

Personal Protective Equipment

• AAP Guidance on the use of PPE

• CDC guidance on use of personal protective equipment (PPE)

COVID-19 in Pediatric Literature

• Parenting in a Time of COVID-19

• COVID-19 in children: the link in the transmission chain

• Clinical and epidemiological features of 36 children with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Zhejiang, China: an observational cohort study

Parental Guidance

• Children's of Alabama's PATHS program series of online resources for mental health

• Alabama Medicaid one-pager for parents

• Another example practice communication to parents RE: well/sick visit protocols

• Parenting in a Time of COVID-19

• Explaining Coronavirus To Kids Podcast

• HealthyChildren.org has a constantly updated page on coronavirus

• Example practice communication to parents

• Broad Chapter communication to all parents of children in Alabama

• Talking to and Supporting Children During a Pandemic: Helping clinicians understand how to talk to and support children during the COVID-19 pandemic, including how to help parents talk to their children.

National AAP Webinars

• Racial Health Inequities During COVID-19 Webinar "A Framework to Approach Racial Health Inequities during the COVID-19 Pandemic"

• COVID-19 Pandemic – Clinical Guidance for Pediatric Practices: Strategies for pediatricians to increase infection control practices in their office to protect patients and health care workers. (24 minutes)

• AAP Recorded Webinar: Telehealth and COVID-19 (19 minutes)

• Talking to and Supporting Children During a Pandemic (21 minutes)

• Disaster Management for the Pediatrician in the COVID-19 Response. (19 minutes)

• Laws for Medical Practices During COVID-19 Notes — AAP Section on Administration & Practice Management webinar — March 27, 2020

Other Conference Calls & Webinar Recordings

• COVID talk recordings available from 2020 Virtual Meeting & Pediatric Update

• ADPH news conference recordings on COVID-19: https://bit.ly/33cpv7D

• June 23 Medical Association/Alabama Department of Public Health conference call for physicians RE: COVID-19 recording

• April 7 MASA Conference Call with Warren Averett to discuss available SBA loans for physician practices - recording

• April 6 MASA Call with State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris - recording

• How to apply for a SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan — Business Council of Alabama webinar Notes — March 27, 2020

• AL-AAP Pediatric Practices Respond to COVID-19: Lessons Learned Two Weeks In — AL-AAP Practice Management Association peer-to-peer webinar Notes — March 27, 2020

• Children's of Alabama/UAB Pediatric Infectious Diseases COVID-19 March 19, 2020 presentation recording - https://www.childrensal.org/LiveCMEOpportunity2

• March 16 MASA Call with State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris - recording (mp3).

• St. Jude/PIDS Conference - 3 Part COVID-19 Webinar with Drs. Mark Denison, Jan Englund, and Hana Hakim (webinar recording) • Learning from SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Emergence, Disease, Biology, and Antivirals by Mark Denison, MD • Lessons from the Seattle Experience: The Seattle Flu Study: A Community Based Study of Influenzaby Jan Englund, MD • COVID-19 Infection Control: Infection Control of Coronavirus Presentation Slides by Hana Hakim

• COVID-19 Webinar Recording: The Seattle Children's Experience

• California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative - California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative Webinar: Preparing Your Maternal and Neonatal Units to Respond to COVID-19

Archive

• Chapter Statement on State Health Officer order/well visits during pandemic - March 30, 2020

• The Chapter partnered with the Medical Association and the Academy of Family Physicians to send this letter to State Health Officer Scott Harris, MD, to urge consideration of primary care physicians when appropriating new rounds of PPE supplies coming into the state. — March 31, 2020

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama: Thanks to Chapter advocacy (see letter sent on April 16), Blue Cross added Level 4 visits to its telehealth policy(99204 and 99214). Click here for the Blue Cross Telehealth Billing Guide, and here for the our BCBS Telehealth Update as of 4/24/2020. Blue Cross is completing its review of our other requests articulated in the letter. -- April 28, 2020