Women's Health Issues
Volume 18, Issue 6, Supplement , Pages S19-S25, November 2008

The future of preconception care:

A Clinical Perspective

  • Brian W. Jack, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Family Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Brian W. Jack, MD, Boston Medical Center, Dowling 5, Room 5309, 1 BMC Place, Boston, MA 02118; Phone: 617-414-5956; Fax: 617-414-3345.
    • ,
  • Hani Atrash, MD, MPH

      Affiliations

    • National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
    • ,
  • Timothy Bickmore, PhD

      Affiliations

    • College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
    • ,
  • Kay Johnson, MPH, MEd

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, New Hampshire

Received 22 July 2008; received in revised form 15 September 2008; accepted 20 September 2008.

The concepts of preconception care (PCC) have been discussed for over 20 years and the standards for PCC have been recently promulgated by the clinical committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Select Panel of Preconception Care. For PCC to be fully realized, however, changes must be made in clinical practice, public health supports, and health coverage. This article discusses 1) the clinical content and delivery of PCC, 2) barriers to why this care does not fit easily into the current clinical paradigm for providing medical care, and 3) how new information technologies within the concept of the medical home might be a promising new way to assist in the diffusion of these concepts.

 

 The authors have no direct financial interests that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted manuscript.

 The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

PII: S1049-3867(08)00138-2

doi:10.1016/j.whi.2008.09.004

Women's Health Issues
Volume 18, Issue 6, Supplement , Pages S19-S25, November 2008

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