Special Health Care Needs Action Alert

"A medical home is an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between patients, clinicians, medical staff, and families. A medical home extends beyond the four walls of a clinical practice. It includes specialty care, educational services, family support and more." - AAP National Resource Center for Patient/Family-Centered Medical Home

A medical home should have the following seven aspects:

• Accessible: Care is easy for the child and family to obtain, including geographic access and insurance accommodation.
• Family-centered: The family is recognized and acknowledged as the primary caregiver and support for the child, ensuring that all medical decisions are made in true partnership with the family.
• Continuous: The same primary care clinician cares for the child from infancy through young adulthood, providing assistance and support to transition to adult care.
• Comprehensive: Preventive, primary, and specialty care are provided to the child and family.
• Coordinated: A care plan is created in partnership with the family and communicated with all health care clinicians and necessary community agencies and organizations.
• Compassionate: Genuine concern for the well-being of a child and family are emphasized and addressed.
• Culturally Effective: The family and child's culture, language, beliefs, and traditions are recognized, valued, and respected.

Interested in transforming your practice using the medical home model?

Follow the AAP Building Your Medical Home roadmap to find next steps and resources to start, integrate, and sustain your medical home. "A medical home is not a building or a place. It is an approach to providing comprehensive primary care that facilitates partnerships between patients, clinicians, medical staff, and families."

Self-assessments

Begin the transformation process by first taking a self-assessment checklist, developed by the Georgetown University National Center for Cultural Competence. Choose one of the three selected self-assessments below, or view all available self-assessments.

After taking a self-assessment, consider which actions on the checklist you could implement in your practice or organization. Can you identify three changes you can make to become more culturally effective?