Phreesia Partners with Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) to Automate Delivery of its Screening Tool

BALTIMORE & RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Phreesia is pleased to partner with the developers of the Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) model to deliver their screening tool for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and negative social determinants of health (SDOH) to pediatric primary care providers across Phreesia’s network. This automated questionnaire will enhance pediatricians’ ability to provide high-quality, comprehensive care to their patients, and to promote the well-being of the children and families they serve.

The SEEK Parent Questionnaire-R (PQ-R) is one of seven validated tools on Phreesia’s patient intake platform that screen for SDOH—the conditions under which people live, learn, work and play that have a significant impact on their overall physical and mental health. Pediatricians can now use Phreesia to automate the administration and analysis of the evidence-based and cost-saving SEEK model to reveal and address problems such as parental depression or unhealthy substance use, thereby improving how families function and cope.

“We developed SEEK to help busy practices more efficiently identify problems families may face, in order to better support parents and promote children’s health, well-being, development and safety,” said Howard Dubowitz, MD, MS, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and lead developer of the SEEK model. “Phreesia greatly helps to implement SEEK, making it easy for parents and professionals to use the tool, and ultimately supporting better outcomes for children and families.”

Findings from two large federally funded studies analyzing SEEK indicated that child maltreatment incidents were significantly lower among families whose primary care providers had implemented the SEEK model.

“Phreesia is increasingly focused on equipping providers with the tools to more effectively and efficiently identify psychosocial issues, which we know can have long-term negative effects on a child’s health and their ability to grow into thriving, productive adults,” said Christina Suh, MD, MPH, a pediatrician and Phreesia’s Clinical Content Director. “The addition of the SEEK screening tool to our platform will help pediatricians who implement the SEEK model to better identify and address risk factors associated with child abuse and neglect.”

As part of Phreesia’s intake and clinical screening process, parents may complete the SEEK questionnaire privately on their mobile device or computer before their children’s well-child visit. Providers receive a summary of SEEK results before the visit, preparing them to directly address identified problems with families during their appointment—for example, connecting a parent struggling with substance abuse to a treatment program.

About Phreesia

Phreesia gives healthcare organizations a suite of robust applications to manage the patient intake process. Our innovative SaaS platform engages patients in their healthcare and provides a modern, convenient experience, while enabling our clients to enhance clinical care and drive efficiency.

About SEEK

The evidence-based Safe Environment for Every Kid (SEEK) model was developed to enhance pediatric primary care to better address problems facing many families, thereby supporting parents and parenting, promoting children’s health, well-being, development and safety, and preventing child maltreatment. It is being implemented in 27 states, Sweden and Italy. More information is available at www.SEEKwellbeing.org