Dora Anne Mills presents keynote at American Academy of Pediatrics

Dora Anne Mills, M.D., M.P.H., vice president for Clinical Affairs, presented the keynote speech at the annual conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which was held in Portland, Maine, on November 2, 2013.  The conference was attended by pediatric health care providers from across northern New England.

Mills' speech focused on the impact of health policy on pediatric health and the importance for all health care providers to get involved with policy at the local, state, and/or federal level. She reviewed the impact of policies on some of the major health successes of the last century and outlined the leading health issues of the present, emphasizing that policy is a crucial strategy necessary to address them.

Mills also discussed the role of data, anecdotes, visuals, credibility of the argument, and, most importantly, relationships with policymakers and health care providers.

She ended her speech by underscoring the extent to which health policy is integral to the mission of health care providers.

Mills is a pediatrician and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and also serves as the director of UNE's School of Community and Population Health.