A Conversation on the Emergence of Pediatric Complex Care
Increased attention to children with medical complexity has occurred because these children are growing in number, consume a disproportionate share of health-system costs, and require policy and programmatic interventions that differ in many ways from the broader group of children with special health care needs. But will this focus on complex care lead to meaningful changes in systems of care and outcomes for children with serious chronic diseases?
Discussing Status Complexicus? The Emergence of Pediatric Complex Care, the lead author and experts in the field reviewed the article’s key content and shared thoughts on the implications of its recommendations.
This article is part of a supplement to Pediatrics entitled, “Building Systems that Work for Children with Complex Health Care Needs.”
Speakers

Eyal Cohen, MD, MSc, FRCP(C)
Dr. Eyal Cohen co-founded the Complex Care Program in the Division of Pediatric Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children where he is an Associate Scientist in the Research Institute. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto with cross-appointments in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. He is also a Scientist with the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University.

Jeffrey P. Brosco, MD, PhD
Dr. Jeffrey Brosco is professor of clinical pediatrics and the Associate Director of the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami. Dr. Brosco was appointed Deputy Secretary, Children’s Medical Services, for the Florida Department of Health. He serves as Florida’s Title V Director for Children with Special Health Care Needs. Dr. Brosco also has been active in national health policy groups, including the National Workgroup on Standards for Systems of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

James Perrin, MD
Dr. James Perrin is professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and former director of the Division of General Pediatrics at MassGeneral Hospital (MGH) for Children, having previously headed a similar division at Vanderbilt. He holds the John C. Robinson Chair in Pediatrics at MGH. He was president (2014) of the American Academy of Pediatrics, chair of its Committee on Children with Disabilities, and past president of the Ambulatory (Academic) Pediatric Association. He was the founding editor of Academic Pediatrics.

Rishi K. Agrawal, MD, MPH
Dr. Rishi Agrawal is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is a pediatric hospitalist at Lurie and La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago. He is co-chair of the Academic Pediatric Association Complex Care Special Interest Group and has a research and advocacy interest in Children with Medical Complexity.