Meet Dr. Julia Harris!

I am a pediatric rheumatologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. I have been passionate about quality improvement since my fellowship, and I love working with PR-COIN. In addition, my oldest daughter, Olivia, has JIA. She was diagnosed at the age of 7. She is now 10 years old, in 5th grade, and involved in numerous activities. Some people may not know that I also have arthritis and was diagnosed shortly after my 4th daughter was born. Yes, I have 4 wonderful daughters! I enjoy spending time with my family and being active with Taekwondo, strength training, my Peloton bike, and more. Given my life experiences, my empathy for our patients and families has grown exponentially over the years. 

One of my greatest struggles as a parent of a daughter with JIA is the unknown: Will she be able to taper off her medication? Will her disease flare? Will she need to be on life-long immunosuppression? These thoughts make you feel helpless, and I try to counterbalance that with optimism and advocacy. Our family takes part in Arthritis Foundation events, and Olivia has loved participating in the walks, camp, and Art for Arthritis [the picture has Olivia's painting in the background].

Having arthritis, even when the disease is well-controlled, is not fun or fair. I am always honest with Olivia, allow her to have some age-appropriate control of certain aspects of her disease, and celebrate her conquering her disease and being stronger in the end for dealing with a chronic medical condition.

PR-COIN is such a wonderful collaborative that I have been a part of for over 7 years. It is hard to think about just one patient or story that accurately reflects the impact PR-COIN has had on my clinical practice. The co-produced resources are so invaluable, and I perform pre-visit planning, participate in shared decision making, provide self-management support, and utilize a Treat to Target approach to care all thanks to PR-COIN. I am involved in PR-COIN because I believe in the mission, core values, quality improvement science, and people. I am proud to be a part of this collaborative and truly believe that our efforts can and will positively impact and improve outcomes for our children with JIA.

Visit our Get Involved page to learn more about how you and your center can get involved in PR-COIN.