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This page was last modified on : 07/20/2011 |
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)What is a Medical Home?Who are Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)? What is the main purpose of the Medical Home Website? What kinds of services does the Medical Home Leadership Network (MHLN) provide? How can I find out about starting a Medical Home Team in my county?
A medical home is not a building, house, or hospital, but rather an approach to providing comprehensive primary care. A medical home is defined as primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. In a medical home, a pediatric clinician* works in partnership with the family/patient to assure that all of the medical and non-medical needs of the patient are met. Through this partnership, the pediatric clinician can help the family/patient access and coordinate specialty care, educational services, out-of-home care, family support, and other public and private community services that are important to the overall health of the child/youth and family. - National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs, American Academy of Pediatrics. *For example, pediatrician, family physician, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant More detailed information can be read through the Medical Home Policy Statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;110/1/184 Who are Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)? ”Children with special health care needs are those who have or are at an increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services in an amount beyond that required by children generally” US Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Approximately 14-15% of children have significant chronic conditions, and they consume 60% of the health care resources spent on children. Examples of chronic conditions include asthma, cancer, autism, cerebral palsy, food allergies, learning disabilities, depression and complications of prematurity. Care for these children requires coordination between primary and specialty health care systems, schools, child care, early intervention programs, and community services. Adopted by the AAP (October 1998). McPherson M, Arango P, Fox HB, A new definition of children with special health care needs. Pediatrics 1998; 102:137-140 [Extract] [Full text] [PDF]
According to the 2003-04 National Survey of Children’s Health, 44.8 % of Washington’s children with special health care needs received coordinated ongoing comprehensive care within a medical home (US average: 44.2 %), compared to 48.5% of all children in Washington (US average: 46.1%). [More info] What is the main purpose of the Medical Home Website? The Washington State medical home website focuses on improving care for children and youth with special health care needs by providing information to primary health care providers, other professionals, and families and supporting the work of the community-based MHLN teams. Our goal is that every child and youth with special health care needs will receive comprehensive health care through a medical home. How is the Medical Home Website staffed? Faculty and professional staff at the University of Washington’s Center on Human Development and Disability oversee the website. Primary staff include a health educator who is also a parent of children with special health care needs, developmental pediatricians, and an occupational therapist. Additional regular contributors include nutritionists, developmental pediatricians, a physical therapist, nurses, and representatives from the Department of Early Learning Early Support for Infants and Toddlers Program. The website also reflects the needs and resources identified by the volunteer, community-based, Medical Home Leadership Network resource teams across the state. Teams are typically composed of a physician, public health nurse, birth-to-three family resources coordinator and a parent. How is the Washington State Medical Home Website funded? Primary funding comes from the Washington State Department of Health’s Children with Special Health Care Needs Program. A State Mentorship grant from the National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs at the American Academy of Pediatrics’ provided the initial money to hire the web designers to develop the website with project staff. The initial work of developing the website began under a grant from the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Inkind contributions to the website come from staff at the University of Washington’s LEND program, the Dept. of Health’s CSHCN Program and other programs, the Center for Children with Special Needs, the Washington Family to Family Network (including Family Voices, Parent to Parent, the Fathers Network), MHLN team members, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital the National Medical Library – Pacific Northwest Regional Branch and other state and national partners. What kinds of services does the Medical Home Leadership Network (MHLN) provide? The MHLN is not a direct service program and does not provide direct care or coordinate care for children with special needs. Members of the volunteer, community-based teams are each experts in the care of children with special health care needs and have agreed to be identified as resources for their community colleagues. They also identify one or more areas they will work on to improve medical homes in their community, and work towards this goal within their volunteer time constraints. Project staff at the MHLN are involved in policy and planning activities around medical home at the state level. What is the relationship between the Washington State Medical Home Website and the MHLN? The website grew out of the need for teams to have easy access to medical home information to use and share with their community colleagues. Project support staff for the teams and website are similar. The 21 MHLN teams cover 24 of the 39 counties in Washington State. The website covers all 39 counties. Can I start a Medical Home Team in my county? Contact Kate Orville, MHLN Co-Director if your county does not have a medical home resource team and you are interested in starting one. How can I get learn more or get involved? Please contact your local Medical Home Team or the MHLN Co-Directors Kate Orville and Dr. Katherine TeKolste to find out more.
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