What is a Medical Home? The medical home, simply put, is the central hub for your childs’ health care. It consists of the place and people who know your child’s name and keep a record of his or her health records. The goal is to be “accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate and culturally effective.” There should be a qualified, personal physician who is known to the child and family and who is able to develop a partnership of mutual responsibility, trust and understanding.
As the hub or home for your child’s health and well-being, the team will know your child better than any other outside medical providers. It is important that you ensure we have all the information possible regarding your child's medical history and medication use. We are able to provide information for outside care as well. We can refer to the best specialists and many community resources, have access to your child’s health records and can coordinate different kinds of care. As part of this, we ask outside providers to share information about your child to assure continuity of care and to avoid replication of services. Please make sure that all other providers are aware of this request and have them inform us of any and all treatments outside of our office, including behavioral health.
We encourage you to designate one of our physicians as your child’s main provider. This does not mean our other providers cannot see your child on a particular day if that provider is unavailable. Instead it will allow you to build a relationship with someone who is in charge of your individual child’s total well-being – physically, mentally, emotionally and socially, including behavioral health aspects. We will coordinate with mental health professionals whenever necessary.
Although emergency rooms and urgent care centers are sometimes necessary, they do not and will not meet the definition of a medical home. ER’s are designed for emergencies only. Urgent and store-based walk-in clinics can be helpful but are not recommended on a regular basis as they are not always able to provide consistent, reliable and efficient care for your child.
A patient's financial situation should not, and will not, affect their medical home status. We provide the same high level of care to all our patients regardless of their health insurance status.
We are striving daily to achieve the highest ideals of the medical home as outlined by national and local collaborators in health care. The practice provides evidence-based care. Our goal is to follow the latest standards and guidelines for pediatric care recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. These are based on the most current research and data. Our medical providers continue to keep up with the latest in medical education and competency and are striving to update our personal skills and knowledge in improving the care of your child.
Your child’s health, potential and well-being are our ultimate goal. With your support, we will continue to improve on all aspects of the ideal medical home.