Medical Home
What is a Medical Home?
Having a medical home may benefit your child. A medical home is not a specific place or building, it is a way of delivering health care. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) describes it as a model of care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective. This means you have one central place to go that meets the needs of your child and family. Your child’s medical home may be with a primary care doctor, or it may be with another health care provider.
What to Expect From a Medical Home?
Your child’s health care provider should see you as an important part of your child’s care. You will want to be able to get to the office easily, and to reach someone quickly when needed. It is reasonable to expect the doctor and staff will treat you with respect, even if your family does things differently from them. It is important to have issues explained to you in a way you understand, and in your language if needed. It also means that your child’s doctor is willing to work with other doctors and hospitals. They will coordinate care, so your child doesn’t have unnecessary tests or delays in getting needed care. A medical home will be with you every step of the way and help when you need it.
Benefits of a Medical Home
Here are some of the benefits for your child and family if your provider is a medical home.
- Your child sees the same doctors and office staff regularly. They get to know your child and family.
- The doctor partners with you in your child’s care. This means the doctor is honest and respectful and you learn from each other.
- Your family gets help finding support and resources to meet your child’s needs and challenges.
- They work with you to support good health and quality of life as your child gets older.
Care Coordination
Care coordination is one benefit of having a medical home. Midwest Genetics Network defines care coordination as a need driven, team-based process that values families as essential partners. It is intended to integrate care among multiple service providers, enhance the caregiving ability of the family, and maximize the potential of the child.
It means that there is someone at the doctor’s office who helps you put all the pieces together. This may be a social worker, a nurse, or a care manager. Even when you have someone to help you, your role is important. You are the constant in your child’s life. You may not always have a choice of doctors, but you can make an effort to have an active role in your child’s care.
