A survey of multidisciplinary cleft palate and craniofacial team examination formats.
We surveyed 229 multidisciplinary cleft and craniofacial teams listed in the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association directory regarding frequency of meetings, numbers of patients treated, sources of funding, their format of examination of children, and their satisfaction with that format. One hundred fifteen (50%) of 229 surveys were completed. Thirty-seven percent of clinics report meeting monthly; 43% of clinics report actively following up 300 or less patients; 40% of clinics report funding by third-party insurance reimbursement, and 38% by government funding; 48% of clinics report the patients moving from one examination room to another to see specialists, in another 33%, the patient stays in 1 examination room while the specialists move, and in only 20%, all specialists see a patient simultaneously. Significantly more specialists are dissatisfied with clinics where they move to examine children; significantly more families are satisfied in clinics where specialists move to examine the child or examine them simultaneously.
Department of Surgery, University ofVermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT, USA. dlaub@uvm.edu
Donald R
DR
Laub
Amir H
AH
Ajar
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires