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Defining Population Health for Children with Medical Complexity

Organization: The Regents of the University of California Los Angeles

Primary Contact: Dr. Paul Chung

Grant Amount: $165,362 for 18 months

Date Awarded:

Date Completed:

Purpose

To identify short and long-term outcomes important to children with medical complexity and to achieve consensus among national stakeholders of measurable key population outcomes and measurement gaps.

Outcome

Project completed

Related Resources

Children with medical complexity account for about 40 percent of pediatric Medicaid spending, yet comprise only 3 percent of the pediatric population. Currently, no population measures exist to describe these children, who have diverse conditions of variable severity. A study published in Pediatrics suggests 10 potential outcome domains as a starting point. 

Researchers interviewed 23 national experts on children with medical complexity to better understand population health for these children. They developed five themes that characterize this group of children and their families, concluding that measuring population health for them is challenging but necessary.