Coordinating Pediatric Aerodigestive Care

Anatomy doesn’t work in silos. For example, the airway affects feeding. Feeding affects growth. Reflux affects the lungs. Suddenly, one child has three subspecialists and one very full calendar. Aerodigestive medicine lives in that overlap, and while multidisciplinary teams bring powerful expertise, primary care providers are co-managing these patients. They are fielding the “is this normal” calls. They are tracking growth, advocating for these patients and helping families make sense of recommendations. 

In this episode, we talked to two experts about what meaningful co-management looks like, Emily DeBoer, MD, and Todd Wine, MD. Dr. DeBoer specializes in pulmonology at Children’s Colorado and is a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Wine specializes in otolaryngology and is an associate professor. 

In this episode, our experts discuss: 

• Which patients benefit from multidisciplinary aerodigestive care versus traditional single-specialty referrals 
• How respiratory diagnoses impact patients 
• How primary care clinicians can support patients 
• Overview of aerodigestive programs across the country