RESOURCES

To be HIPAA-compliant, a package and a compatible script writer

Healthcare Training Strategies (HTS) has teamed with the American Medical Association Press to distribute HTS's multimedia HIPAA Privacy Tool Kit. The kit includes a 22-minute instructional video that focuses on patients' rights and HIPAA administrative requirements, copies of the HIPAA Privacy 101 Handbook, and the HIPAA Privacy Pocket Guide—plus charts, tests, and an audio CD for review. The tool kit is intended to improve critical thinking and sharpen the problem-solving skills of medical office staff who are charged with applying the new requirements in their physician's practices. For information, visit www.htsonline.com .

Software developer OmniMD, recently released their OmniMD Direct-to-Pharmacy Prescription Writer, which is HIPAA-compliant and allows providers to write and sign off on prescriptions from a desktop, or a handheld, computer. Printing and faxing options are available, as are interactions alerts. For information, visit www.omnimd.com .

Aquarium: Soothing sight in the waiting room

Living Color Enterprises has launched the Discovery Collection of what they call "museum-quality" aquariums to enhance the ambiance of a large room or waiting room. Their two new rectangular shaped aquariums, the Atlantis (270 gallons, 6' x 2' x 3' ) and the Poseidon (180 gallons, 4' x 2' x 3' ), come with fabricated saltwater reefs familiar to the fish that reside in them. Freshwater environments and fish are also available, as is a choice of cabinets. For information, call 800-878-9511 or visit www.livingcolor.com .

Practical help for parents of overweight children

The American Dietetic Association has published a 48-page book, If Your Child is Overweight: A Guide for Parents. Practical and low-key, the book speaks to parents about whether their child might be overweight, what could be causing it, and how to assess eating patterns and set realistic goals for weight loss. Parents are urged to plan for snacks, tailor portion sizes, make meals last longer than 15 minutes, avoid the "clean plate club" approach, store food out of sight, specify eating only in designated areas of the house, and avoid using food as reward or punishment. The book discusses the benefits of physical exercise for the child, especially in the context of the family, and encourages exercise in which the emphasis isn't on performance—a situation that helps overweight youngsters excel from the start. Author Susan M. Kosharek, MS, RD, also deals with the dietary dilemmas that children encounter when they eat in a restaurant or the school cafeteria. Lists of cookbooks, weight-management programs, and helpful organizations with their Web sites complete the volume. A single copy is $15 (catalog #3037) and packs of 10 (#6116) are $104; the more copies ordered, the greater the discount. To order the book, call 800-877-1600, ext. 5000, or visit www.eatright.org . (Have the catalog number handy when you call.)

The positive, powerful outlook of children inspires a book

Pediatric neurosurgeon Fred Epstein, MD, has written When I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character to capture the lessons he has learned from his patients. Dr. Epstein finds children remarkably resilient in the face of life-threatening illness, largely because of their openness to experience and their willingness to live fully in the present. Dr. Epstein wrote this book as a step in his own healing after suffering a traumatic brain injury that kept him comatose for 26 days. Having performed life-saving surgery on many children, he draws on years of experience with recovering patients to underscore the important lessons he learned from children he treated:

• Hold someone's hand

• Live in the moment

• Face your fears

• Believe in miracles

• Play to your strengths

• Love without boundaries.

Frank, unsentimental, and filled with anecdotes and interesting details, the book closes by saying "We may know too much about the unpredictable ways of the world to expect a happy ending, but we can't help but hope for one all the same. It's the only way to get to five." Published in April 2003 by Henry Holt, If I Get to Five costs $20 and is available at www.amazon.com and in bookstores.

Guidance for parents of preemies

An increase in the number of twins and triplets born each year has helped swell the number of premature infants. Parents of many of these babies may seek specialized information to address their needs. Your Premature Baby: The First Five Years is presented with those needs in mind. Written by Nikki Bradford with consultants Jonathan Hellmann, MD, clinical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, and Sharyn Gibbins, RN, MSc, PhD, clinical nurse specialist and neonatal nurse practitioner at the same institution, the book explores a great range of topics: how prematurity affects a baby; definitions of hospital terms and treatment; potential medical problems; advice for parents on coping; guidance for the period from when the baby comes home to when he or she reaches 5 years of age; how to help older children deal with a "preemie" sibling; the importance of the new mother's caring for herself physically and emotionally; coping with grief and loss; recent research on the causes and prevention of premature birth; and listings of resources and support groups. The book decodes medical jargon, proposes ways that parents can work well with hospital medical staff, and discusses the importance of therapeutic touch. Illustrated with full-color photographs, and featuring margin notes with capsulized facts and compressed advice, Your Premature Baby is published in paperback ($19.95) by Firefly Books Ltd. It can be purchased at www.amazon.com or www.fireflybooks.com , in bookstores, or by calling 800-387-5085.

And consider these . . .

For physicians, residents, and private practitioners who are tired of asking themselves "Am I on call?" a Web site named www.amion.com can help create personal calendars, organize shift schedules, let you know who else is on call and when, and send text messages to colleagues. Visit the Web site for information.

The National Child Care Registry has a Web site that helps parents select an appropriate child-care center from information supplied to the registry by the centers and by other parents who have used the child-care facilities. The site also offers online fingerprinting and a means to notify authorities when a child is missing. Visit www.nccreg.com for information.

Interested in the shapes, colors, sizes, and materials of baby nursing bottles in times gone by? You can log on to www.ACIF.org , the Web site of the American Collectors of Infant Feeders (ACIF) to browse or join the collectors' club, which was founded in 1973 and has more than 215 members. There is even an annual convention where you can meet others interested in the subject.

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month!

During the month of August and thereafter, Avent America, a manufacturer of infant and toddler feeding products and breast pumps, is offering a free 24-page breastfeeding guide that encourages mothers to breastfeed longer. Parents or grandparents can request the booklet by calling 800-54-AVENT. It can also be printed from the company's Web site, www.aventamerica.com . The booklet answers common questions about milk supply, nutrition, positioning the baby for breastfeeding, latching-on, and feeding schedules. Information is also included on pumping the breasts when the mother returns to work, breast problems to watch for, when to call for help, and weaning options.

Molly Frederick
Senior Associate Editor

 

Resources. Contemporary Pediatrics August 2003;20:133.