2006 Priority Health Quality Award Winner

Kent Pediatrics, PC
Medicine is a team effort at Kent Pediatrics, where the doctors share an office and, in conversation, seem to finish each others' sentences. According to Dr. Nick Kokx, the idea of teamwork extends from having doctors work with all patients to a shared vision of sound medical practices. "We appreciate the fact that Priority Health's standards are high, but we have long had our own set of standards that are, in most cases, even higher. What is important is that their standards and ours are built on evidence-based medicine."

A firm reliance on evidence-based medicine drives the treatment of patients, the group's evaluation of specialists, and the medications they prescribe. "We think it's interesting, says Kokx, "The top ten medications prescribed in pediatric practices nationwide are entirely different than our own top ten. We don't buy into drug marketing; we prescribe medications that are proven effective. Show us the evidence."

Office manager Kathy Kukawski believes that constant, patient-by-patient communication between doctors and nurses rather than an intense focus on a set of standards is what drives the high quality of the Kent Pediatrics. "I'll admit we don't have many meetings about quality improvement; it happens in the ways doctors communicate and through how they work with patients." Just as doctors rotate among patients, nurses have the opportunity to work with different doctors on a continual basis.

"You want to know the secret of good pediatric care? Work with the parents; help them anticipate how to deal with problems like ear aches and sore throats," Kokx advises, "It's not always about giving out prescriptions to make the parents feel better; the secret is helping the parents know that taking care of most colds, earaches and tummy aches
is something they can deal with themselves."