Publications

Improving the system of care for children with special health care needs is a goal of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. To provide a basis for this work, the Foundation convened dozens of experts and asked them to imagine a reconfigured system that would produce optimal health outcomes for children and families.

The idea of a medical home was conceived by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a way to assure that children, particularly those with special health care needs, are able to obtain high quality care in a fragmented care system.

The authors combine two approaches to improving medical care for children -- the medical home and “Triple Aim” – and outline a “Triple Aim Medical Home” as a way for pediatric practices to improve care and lower health care costs.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health co-sponsored a briefing for California lawmakers regarding how the state health care system functions for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their families.

This policy note, prepared by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and funded by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, explores disparities in access to pediatric subspecialty care in California by insurance coverage, geographic location, race/ethnicity, and language. The paper proposes recommendations to ensure adequate access to pediatric subspecialty care.

In July 2012, about 350 philanthropists and child health experts congregated in Aspen, CO, for The Aspen Children's Forum: Investing in Children's Health and Well Being. This first-of-its-kind gathering focused on the provocative question, What role can we play in facilitating the transformation of the health and well being of children in North America over the next 20 years?

Pediatricians are facing pressure to account for the quality and cost of care they provide to their patients. The author highlights six ways health providers can help transform the care they provide to children and their families.

Pediatricians might feel insulated from the cost-cutting and accountability initiatives that are washing over health care providers like a tidal wave. They shouldn’t.

As California’s state health officials start transferring children from Healthy Families to Medi-Cal, this report outlines some of the promises and pitfalls that lie ahead for families of children with special health care needs, and offers recommendations for a smoother transition.

Compared to children in other states, California’s children with special health care needs receive care that is less coordinated, less family-centered, and fails to meet many of the key quality indicators prescribed by the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, according to this new analysis of the  2009/10 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.