Elizabeth Felton, MD, PhD: The Utility of Transition Clinics in Epilepsy

“On the adult side we typically only manage the epilepsy piece. A lot of times pediatric patients have to go to see more than one adult provider to get the same services they were getting on the pediatric side. It’s helpful if the parent and patient are aware of that… I think the transition clinic can be very helpful for that.”

An underutilized resource for easing the transition from pediatric to adult care in patients with epilepsy is transition clinics. Elizabeth Felton, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Wisconsin, feels that transition clinics can significantly improve the process, ensuring good continuity of care.

Transition clinics can help package together a patient’s medical information, dietary needs, restrictions, and medications in an organized manner for the new treating physician. This may also help to improve communication between pediatric and adult epilepsy care specialists who may prioritize different aspects of care. Improved communication can help to put patients and families at ease during this stressful time, providing them with extra confidence that their medical care is being handled correctly and is being tended to appropriately.

At the 73^rd annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), Felton sat down with NeurologyLive to deliver her “call to action” to her fellow epilepsy specialists on what they can do to improve the transition period for patients with epilepsy.

For more coverage of AES 2019, click here.