Headache Program | Clinician Resources

We value our interactions with our patients’ primary care providers and are eager to make coordination and reporting of care as productive as possible.

In 2009, a group of specialists from Boston Children’s Hospital, including Scott Pomeroy, MD, PhD, neurologist-in-chief, and Richard Antonelli, MD, MS, medical director for integrated care, sat down with primary care providers from Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates to develop strategies of collaboration for the care of our patients:

• Our neurologists provide information and support to primary care physicians assessing their patients for headache. As needed, neurologists will also provide guidance to primary care doctors to ensure their patients see a neurologist for further evaluation when necessary and help determine what imaging might be most appropriate for individual patients on a case-by-case basis.
• Whenever a child is seen in the Department of Neurology, we quickly report our findings and recommendations back to the referring provider so she can continue to coordinate care for her patients.
• We support ongoing communication between neurologists and primary care providers, strengthening connections with pediatricians and providing for more comprehensive and convenient coordination of care.

We look forward to expanding this collaborative model to include other primary care provider groups, as well. We understand and value the importance of working closely with primary care providers in order to ensure the very best in coordinated care for our patients.

The staff is also active in clinical pediatric headache research, including responses to biobehavioral, pharmacologic, and adjuvant therapies, as well as sensory testing and functional brain imaging. Education is a priority, and the nursing, psychology, and medical staff present to regional, national, and international conferences, school nurses, and parent and patient groups. Learn more about ongoing research efforts made by the Pain Treatment Services team.

For information on training programs and continuing education at Boston Children’s, please see the training webpages for our Department of Neurology; Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine; and all of Boston Children’s.

The American Headache Society offers information for healthcare professionals at their website.