Automating WIC screening and enrollment in pediatric primary care

Many eligible families face barriers to WIC enrollment, including administrative challenges (such as navigating eligibility criteria) and logistical issues (such as a lack of transportation to in-person appointments and insufficient time for attending enrollment appointments). Pediatricians in academic medical systems are well positioned to promote WIC enrollment because of the frequency of their well-child visits for children younger than 5 years of age and the high proportion of Medicaid enrollees in their patient populations. Children who are WIC-eligible can be easily identified during primary care visits because patients enrolled in Medicaid automatically have adjunctive eligibility for WIC. DUSOM and WFUSOM collaborated with local WIC agencies to develop and implement two EHR innovations to facilitate WIC enrollment during pediatric well-child visits: a WIC screening prompt in templates for well-child visits and an EHR referral to local WIC agencies.

The WIC screening tool appears as an automated prompt within the EHR, embedded in the dietary-history portion of note templates for well-child visits with children younger than 5 years of age. At continuing-education conferences and by means of information sent through email, pediatricians are trained to identify Medicaid plans and taught to screen all children with Medicaid coverage for current WIC enrollment. The outcome of WIC screening is documented with a drop-down menu in the EHR template.