Helena Laroche, MD, FAAP, ABOM

Scientific Medical Director, Center for Children's Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

Full Biography

Helena Laroche, MD, Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition, was awarded a one-year, $66,453 internal grant for her study, “Evaluation of the PCN social risk factor screening and referral program,” from Children’s Mercy Integrated Care Solutions (CMICS).

The study’s goal is to evaluate recent changes that CMICS implemented to screening and referrals for social risk factors. The recent changes that CMICS implemented include:

• Screening for social risk factors throughout Children’s Mercy Health Network (CMHN) and Pediatric Care Network (PCN)
• Integrating Lift Up KC, the Children’s Mercy social care platform, with Children’s Mercy electronic medical records (EMR) and the CMHN and PCN’s population health management system.
• Forming partnerships with select community-based organizations to streamline referrals from Children’s Mercy and CMICS practices through Lift Up KC.

Additionally, the study team will optimize data collection in preparation for use as preliminary data for a longitudinal study to look at implementation over time and patient outcomes.  Dr. Laroche said, “As systems across the country consider screening for social risk factors, we still have so much to learn. Studying what is happening through CMICS can teach us a lot.”

The research team includes: Hung-Wen (Henry) Yeh, PhD, Health Services and Outcomes Research; Jeffrey Colvin, MD, JD, Pediatrics; Michelle Manaskie, MPH, Integrated Care Solutions; and Nikita Sharma, MHA, Integrated Care Solutions.