CONCORD, NH- Pediatric health care coordination is an effective remedy for problems related to fragmented care delivery, poor health outcomes and cost inefficiencies in the current U.S. children's medical system, according to a report co-authored by the Director of the Center for Medical Home Improvement.

The new report, titled "Making Care Coordination a Critical Component of the P ediatric Health System" proposes a framework for care coordination in a high-performing pediatric health care system. The framework includes a multi-disciplinary definition of care coordination, outlines its principal characteristics and functions, and sets forth a detailed process for its delivery. It also describes a model with recommendations to implement care coordination across all health care settings and related disciplines.

"Care coordination must help develop partnerships between pediatric health care providers and parents and facilitate their communication with specialists and community partners, said Jeanne McAllister , BSN, MS, MHA, co-author of the report and Director of the Center for Medical Home Improvement a project of the Crotched Mountain Foundation. "This includes managing planned visits among different care providers, developing a care plan with families, using health information technology and managing/tracking referrals and tests."

To develop this framework, the authors interviewed key healthcare providers and receivers, convened panels of experts, and reviewed related literature.

The report, which was co-authored by McAllister, Richard C. Antonelli, M.D., M.S., and Jill P opp, M.A., was produced for the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults.

To read a summary of the report go to The Commonwealth Fund web site.

About CMHI

A medical home is community-based primary care practice that coordinates high quality, family-centered health, acute illness care andchronic condition management. Coordinating health care pays enormous dividends. The mission of CMHI (the Center for Medical Home Improvement), a project of the Crotched Mountain Foundation, is to advance the medical home model and secure health policy changes crucial to the future of primary care.

CMHI currently works in partnership with the Special Medical Services division of NHDHHS, the NH Citizen's Health Initiative, Dartmouth Medical School, the Institute on Disability at UNH, and consults nationally on various medical home-related initiatives. For more information: www.medicalhomeimprovement.org

About the Crotched Mountain Foundation

Crotched Mountain is a charitable organization whose mission is to serve individuals with disabilities and their families, embracing personal choice and development, and building communities of mutual support. Crotched Mountain provides specialized education, rehabilitation, community, and residential support services for more than 2,000 individuals living in New England and New York. For more information about the Crotched Mountain Foundation, please visit www.crotchedmountain.org.

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